Disclaimer: If I owned any of these things I would not have spent today panicking over how to pay for Law School.
The first jump is a fairly short one. Cassie aims for, and lands in, Quebec. The city is the northern most point of the United States and from there it's not too far a jump too Newfoundland. There, they'll have to take a break for Cassie to gather herself enough to jump them both across the stretch of the Atlantic between North America and Europe. She figures she'll be able to have them in Norway some time shortly after lunch.
Cassie takes a sharp breath in through her nose as they land and lets herself stand very still for a few moments to get her bearings. She's never been to Quebec before, she had stayed with Annabeth to search for Percy when Piper, Leo, and Jason had made the trip on their first trip together, but she's looked at pictures before. The city center is a beautiful blend of modern convenience and classic architecture, and from their landing sight on the roof of the public library Cassie can just make out the faintly purple glow of the palace of Boreas high above them.
A slight breeze ruffles through Cassie's hair and the bits that have already escaped Cassie's braid flutter in to her face. She brushes at them impatiently and pulls her phone out of her pocket. It's about forty seconds after they had departed from Camp which is pretty good time for a journey across international borders.
She glances across to Luke as she sits down on the edge of the library roof. "We have good sun exposure here," she states. "We'll take ten for me to recharge, then make the next jump."
"Why wait?" Luke asks, eyes narrowed. His hands are twitching slightly by his sides and Cassie can tell he's wishing he had a weapon with him. One of his few ADHD demigod ticks had been a finger drumming habit on the hilt of his sword. For obvious reasons, no one at Camp had particularly wanted him armed just yet.
Cassie lets her eyebrows shoot up at his impatience. It's not an unknown character trait in Luke, but he had used to be better at hiding it when he felt that way. "Our next jump has to take us all the way in to Europe," she reminds him. "On my own I'd risk it, but bouncing you along with me takes more energy. Unless you feel like taking a surprise swim today, I need some time between the last jump and the next one."
Luke gives a jerky nod and turns around, craning his neck to keep the palace of the Boreads in his view. Under other circumstances or from another travel companion, Cassie would have appreciated his vigilance. Given present context though, she doesn't feel inclined to presume that his vigilance comes from any desire to keep her safe. More likely, he's worried about having this kind of proximity to a group of unfriendly minor gods on their home turf.
Tipping her head back to get the sun on her face, Cassie doesn't bother to open her eyes when she asks "Did you do something to piss off Boreas? Or are you just twitchy? And either way could you sit down? Your pacing is going to wear a hole in the roof and it's not like either of us can fly." At that point she cracks an eye to look at him. "Unless you're holding out on me?"
Luke's mouth twitches like he's thinking about making some kind of sarcastic comment, but whatever expression is on her face must make him change his mind. "I don't even know if I'm up to jogging these days," he says instead, in a voice as neutral as Cassie's ever heard it. "It's not like I've tried since waking up."
Cassie lets her eyes shut again and shrugs a shoulder. "Why don't you go ahead and give it a shot. Let me know if you feel like your heart's gonna burst."
The sun filters through Cassie's skin in to her veins and thrums its way towards her heart, collecting and pulsing back outwards again. She releases a breath as warmth worms its way in to the stiffened muscles of her neck and her shoulders finally relax enough to drop from where they've inched up next to her ears. The shift brings a faint tingle as blood flow increases again and Cassie rolls her shoulders to encourage it along.
The near-silent scuff of Luke's shoes on the material of the roof shifts rhythmically as he continues to pace. The sounds move slightly away and then stop and Cassie deliberately doesn't turn her head towards him to see what he's doing. Maybe she's being over-stubborn and childish, but considering the extent of everything Luke's done, she feels fairly justified. There's willingness to put aside past wrongdoings in the interests of bigger issues, and then there's forgiveness. Cassie's willing to do one of those things. It'll need to be good enough for now.
The air shifts suddenly, blowing in a gust past her in the wake of a hurtling body. The slaps of running feet on concrete stop at the edge of the roof. Then there's another pause, shorter than the first, and a second streak flashing past the other direction. The process repeats again and again getting faster and faster and Cassie blinks her eyes open in surprise. Luke is running laps, pushing his limits, seeing what he can do. Apparently, he decided to take her advice.
Again, Cassie deliberately chooses not to watch. She turns her attention towards her small pack of supplies and extracts a water bottle. With some irritation, she realizes that she's been timing Luke in her head, tracking his respirations and the brief impressions she can gather of his rising core temperature. Apparently, whether she wants to pay attention personally or not, her magic is already reaching out, like a person walking up to an old friend in a cafeteria not remembering they'd had a fight the day before.
She drinks from the bottle and slips it back in to her bag when she's done. Luke hurtles to a halt in front of her and Cassie looks up, taking in the red in his face and the way his hair is dampened with sweat. "Ready?" she asks.
Luke's expression says without words Hey, this break was for you. You say if we're ready or not. He nods instead of voicing those thoughts and Cassie chalks up another tally on her mental count of how many sentences they haven't said to each other since this journey began.
They could have a tartarus of a drinking game with it later if either of them felt a burning need to get drunk. Not that either of them are actually able to stay drunk or hungover for very long. As Steve and Bucky liked to say, it was a mixed blessing. Maybe they could try it with Thor's Asgardian mead...
Cassie extends her hands, palms up, and Luke drops his in to them without comment. She curls her fingers up around his wrists and notes the pulse jamming away in his veins. "You shouldn't push it too hard yet," she finds herself saying. "Take your time and build up more slowly. There are plenty of tracks where we're going. We'll work up a schedule so you can re-develop your endurance."
The expression she gets for that statement makes Cassie's eyes roll all on their own. "Yeah, yeah," she mutters. "All it means is I don't want to deal with you having a heart attack. Doesn't mean I particularly care about your wellbeing."
"So nice to know you still ca-"
Before Luke can finish the sentence, Cassie yanks them out of Quebec with a jump. She takes an admittedly petty form of satisfaction in cutting him off. Nothing like having the friends you'd had in early childhood back around you again to regress your behavior and maturity. Bucky and Steve were prime examples of that phenomenon.
Unfortunately, Cassie's mental state doesn't have a net zero impact on the accuracy of her teleportation. She's aiming for Scotland, but the deep tolling of the bells, honking traffic, and rushing river nearby tells her she didn't quite get it right. A quick turn of the head shows her a huge wheel dominating the grey skyline which is a mix between soothingly historic and slickly modern. Clearly they've dropped in to London instead of Edinburgh.
Not a bad margin of error all things considered.
Cassie figures they probably end up there instead because she has stronger personal connections to this city than she does to the other. The vacation she and Steve had taken through England a few years previous provides a set of happy memories that Cassie often draws on for calm and happiness. In her abruptness in jumping without taking extra time to focus must have sent her to a sort of default location.
Either way, if they can manage to take a slightly longer pause here than they had in Quebec, Cassie thinks she can probably get them to Norway in the next jump which will be ahead of schedule even if they wait here for an hour. Her estimation of being there by lunch might be more complicated than she had originally assumed due to time differences. Those are something that have always escaped her understanding, despite even her father trying to explain what they had to do with sun exposure time relative to the curvature of the Earth.
"Welcome to London," she says in a mock tour guide voice. "Home of a ton of museums, lovely scones, and people who drive on the other side of the road. Hope you like it. I'm going to need an hour." She turns on her heel and begins to make her way down the riverbank.
Luke moves after her, keeping pace without effort on his longer legs. "Where we headed?"
"Food," Cassie replies. "I just yanked us both across the Atlantic. I need to replace some calories."
"And we're ignoring the Starbuck forty yards behind us because..."
"Because of the other thing sixty yards behind us," Cassie gestures.
Luke turns to look where she's pointing without halting the rhythm of his steps. "Oh," he says, still pacing backwards. "Tower of London. You don't want to end up on camera if you can avoid it." He turns back around to face forwards. "That have anything to do with that U.N thing you were talking about when I first woke up?"
Cassie nods. "I'm not the most recognizable person in the Avengers when I'm out without any of the others, but Steve is and the global media core got way too excited about the fact that we were dating. My face ended up on some tabloids. I'd rather not deal with needing to run from the Metropolitan Police because they think they can arrest me or have me lead them to the others. The U.N is a little ticked off we all got away, some of them are champion grudge holders."
Luke absorbs all of this quickly and easily and tips his head to the right. "We should get away from the river then," he says. "Most of the tourist centers and destinations are closer to the water. If we get more in to the industrial and residential sectors there'll be fewer tourist cameras and probably cheeper food. And if you're worried about being noticed, we should cover your hair."
It's a fair point and Cassie acknowledges it with only a slight grimace. She gestures for Luke to wait for her for a second and quickly winds her blonde braid in to a bun she secures with a pen. Then she tucks the whole mass of it in to navy baseball cap from her bag. She's not sure if it had belonged to Bucky, Steve, or Natasha first, but it had ended up in the bag Steve had packed for her a few days ago and has a band Cassie can loosen enough to cover every last strand.
"There," she says, stepping back out of the alcove. "Less recognizable. Now let's go find something to eat."
They're another few streets away from the river and heading for the hipster and university student areas of the city for more active camouflage when Luke breaks the silence of the past few minutes. "Not that it really matters to the pair of us, but do we happen to have money?"
"I've been to London before," Cassie replies evenly. "There are still some pound coins in my wallet. Failing that I've got a corporate credit card that shouldn't be traceable to me as an individual."
Luke shoots her a look out of the corner of his eye at the statement. "You're still good at running then."
It's more of a statement than it is a question which means it doesn't technically require an answer, but Cassie gives some version of one anyway. "I got to stop for a while," she offers. "That was nice. Now I know, whenever and wherever I run, I've got somewhere to run back to."
They walk for another ten or so minutes and then cast about together to pick a likely looking cafe. They settle on a Pret A Manger with large front windows that provide clear views of the shop interior and Cassie sends Luke in with a twenty pound note while she keeps an eye on him from a park bench across the street. Under other circumstance, she'd have insisted on going with him to keep him in reaching distance, but the reality is that Cassie's face has been on more than one magazine cover lately while Luke's identity has never been public and for the last eight years has been legally dead.
While she waits, she slides her earphones in, but doesn't play any music from her phone. It's merely a defensive technique to prevent people from glancing at her twice or attempting to approach her without good reason.
She times Luke as she waits and he returns in under six minutes balancing two sandwiches in wax paper bags and two to-go cups. Cassie takes what he hands out to her without comment or question. If Luke intended any harm to her, there were easier methods than poisoning her in the middle of a crowded street just outside central London. She starts with the sandwich and is pleased to find a panini of gooey mozzarella cheese, thick pesto, chicken, and roasted tomatoes. Half of it is gone in moments and Cassie can only conclude that she was hungrier than she realized.
Luke indicates a side street with a tip of his head and Cassie nods her agreement before they start walking that direction. Luke finishes off his panini almost as quickly as Cassie had finished hers and Cassie tosses their garbage casually in to a garbage can from ten paces. She does her best not to think about the fact that this is probably the first not Camp-prepared food he's eaten in nearly a decade.
Cassie sips tentatively at her coffee and is greeted with the warm, creamy, multifaceted taste of a mocha with cinnamon and cayenne on top. A quick examination of the side of the cup shows her a label that tells her the drink is called a Mayan Mocha. It may just be her new favorite thing ever. She resolves to work out how to make an approximation of it for herself when she gets back home.
Surely Tony has some kind of over the top and ridiculous though utterly perfect coffee machine somewhere...
Cassie takes another, longer sip and lets the warm liquid roll across her tongue, trying to pin down the individual flavors. There's nutmeg she thinks. And maybe ginger-
Her musings are abruptly interrupted when a building a few doors ahead of them explodes. Or maybe... it kind of... doesn't?
It's impossible to explain, but there is definitely a level of Cassie's visual perception on which the white marble building with the elegant columns explodes. Yet, there's also a level she's seeing on which that building is one hundred percent normal. It's an utterly bizzare experience. The nearest approximation Cassie has for it is an experience Annabeth described to her once of Sadie Kane showing her how to see in to the duat- the current of Egyptian magic and spirits swirling below the surface of the mortal world.
She doesn't realize that she's not walking anymore, but Luke most certainly does. "Cassie?" he asks, the sense of urgency in his voice tightly controlled and achingly familiar, despite the time between now and the last time she had heard it. "What's happening?"
Cassie lifts one hand and points at the building up ahead. "So that building doesn't look like it's under any kind of siege to you?"
Luke frowns at where she's pointing. "No, not at the- oh," he nods and the frown smoothes out some. "Yeah. I got it now."
As he speaks, something else happens. It's almost like someone tapes a kaleidoscope over Cassie's eyes were they focus on the building and then spins it by force. Her vision shatters, fractures, and takes on a geometric multi-dimensional pattern. There's nothing Cassie can do to make it change back or stop. This is utterly out of Cassie's control and the swirling quality is enough to make her feel instantly and impossibly queasy.
"Cassie!" Luke's voice calls, breaking her out of her horrified revere. "Cass don't look!" Cassie wrenches her gaze away and forces herself to focus on Luke's face. "We've gotta go," he's saying. "We have to go right now or be ready to fight whatever that is. You get that?"
Cassie inhales sharply and shakes her head to help clear it. "Yeah," she says shakily. "Yeah we need to go."
With that, she takes Luke's hand and for the third time that morning, rips them both out of their place in the world.
She knows as soon as the jump begins that something has gone wrong. Cassie has spoken to Nico before about the ways that the two of them have of traveling through the currents of the world controlled by their respective fathers. She knows that when he travels through shadows it's an actually discernible process with sights and sounds that go with it.
Traveling through light the way that Cassie does has never been like that. Since she learned how to use this element of her power, sun traveling, teleporting, whatever you wanted to call it, has always been a question of closing her eyes, visualizing where she wants to end up, and yanking herself out of one space and in to the other. It's instantaneous and more or less impression-less.
This time isn't like that.
It starts the same way, but somehow, in the split moment between vanishing from one place and appearing in the other, it changes.
A singing roar fills her ears and she feels abruptly yanked away from her destination under a power that comes from outside herself. Once, during the giant wars, one of their endless enemies had snatched Cassie from the ground and yanked her in to the air. This feels like that, though admittedly a little less painful. That last one had crushed two of her ribs instantaneously.
Wind whips past her and all around, strafing through her hair and snatching words and breath away from her lungs. Through streaming eyes, Cassie is able to discern streaking lines of blurring rainbow light. Space and stars and blackness and pins of light blur and flash by her like a Van Gogh version of a Hubble telescope image.
Luke might be screaming. Cassie might be screaming. it certainly wouldn't be an unreasonable reaction to her circumstances. One way or another, Cassie can't hear it. What she knows for sure is that Luke's hand is clenched around hers.
Then, almost as soon as it all started, it ends.
Cassie crashes out of the haze of light, wind, and sound and only a lifetimes worth of demigodly training saves her from multiple shin fractures as she drops in to a roll to disperse her momentum. She eventually fetches up against a wall, and while that experience isn't a gentle one it feels better than broken kneecaps. Still, she lets herself take a moment to lie still while her heart calms and she gets her breath back.
Counting the length of her inhales and exhales, Cassie feels the throbbing of her pulse die down. The bitter taste of adrenaline fills her dry mouth and just barely fades when Cassie passes her tongue across the roof of her mouth. When that's done, Cassie runs a brief self-assessment to check for injuries. The scan turns up bruises aplenty a low measure of dehydration.
Status, workable. Right, that's good. Next problem.
"Luke?" Cassie calls, head still resting on the smooth stone of the floor. "You good?"
The response is a low groan. Then, "good enough. Where are we?"
Where are we... Cassie thinks. Not what happened? Maybe that's an important distinction. Maybe it's not. Cassie is a little too worried about answering both for herself to try to puzzle it out at the moment.
Well first thing first.
Cassie pushes herself in to a sitting position and takes a look around. She and Luke are sprawled on a polished metal floor. The material might be imperial gold, or at least something related. Hazel would be able to tell but Cassie can't. Minerals have never been her area of expertise.
The walls are made of the same material and curve around to form a circle and then arch up to dome over their heads. Images and patterns are etched in to the walls and Cassie squints to get a better look at them. She has enough experience to know that she's looking at a story carved in to metal, and given her background she's got a distinct impression it's a godly one, but the figures don't look familiar and Cassie doesn't think it's a mythology she knows.
On a slightly raised platform in the middle of the room there's a sort of pedestal. Cassie can see the ornate hilt of an immense sword sticking out. That sight sparks a dim flame of recognition and Cassie doesn't know if that makes her feel better or worse.
Gingerly, Cassie gets to her feet and carefully rolls her shoulders back to loosen the taxed muscles. "I think," she says slowly. "That this might be Asgard."
That suggestion is greeted with a silence that might just carry the ever so subtle flavor of skepticism. "Asgard," Luke repeats when Cassie doesn't offer additional information or a 'just joking, this is Ohio' kind of comment.
Cassie shrugs a shoulder and then regrets the motion when one of the many deep tissue bruises permeating her upper back twinges and throbs. She winces a little and sighs. "Not sure," she admits. "I've never been before and I'm pretty sure it's one of those godly places that can present itself differently to different people. If we're there, we're probably seeing a different visual representation because of our godly blood." She nearly shrugs a second time, remembers, and then stamps down the impulse. "But like I said, I don't actually know."
Luke seems to be having no such issues and shrugs for himself. "Okay then," he begins to roam carefully around the space with a familiar cautious prowl.
Cassie watches his progress with a raised brow. "That's it?" she questions.
"You normally know what you're looking at."
The casual declaration of unconsidered faith and surety takes Cassie aback. It's a turn around she had never anticipated. Maybe back in the brief and terrified days when she Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth had been a complete family in and amongst themselves the words would have brought her nothing but a vague feeling of gratification. Four years of being on opposite sides of a very bitter war and a decade of Luke being dead rested between that time and this one.
Either Luke doesn't notice the awkwardness his words have brought on or he deliberately chooses to ignore it. "So Asgard," he says. "Is that a place we knew might be real back before I died?"
"Not that I know of," Cassie replies. "But it's always hard to say what Chiron knows and when. The rest of us got read in on things two years after the war because of a cousin of Annabeth's. Apparently, his dad is the Norse god of healing and springtime. We chat about it sometimes."
To Luke's credit, he takes the new information more or less in stride and lets out a low whistle. "What's with the Chase family? That's at least two pantheons getting involved."
Cassie nods. "I know. There's no luck in this universe for some people I guess. Anyway, there's a sort of access point for Valhalla in Boston. I haven't been. You have to die to go generally. Apparently, they do a lot of activities called things like 'Yoga: To the Death!'. I've always wondered how that works."
"Do we need to be worried that we might be dead?" Luke asks. "Because I was kind of enjoying not being that way anymore. If I'd known it was going to be this short lived I'd have had a milkshake before we got going."
"No," Cassie shakes her head. "We're both fine. Bruises not withstanding. If I had to guess, I'd say maybe Thor wants a chat."
"God of thunder Thor?"
"That'd be the one."
"He's not..." Luke searches his mind for the right word as Cassie begins to try to stretch out a few of her more strained muscle groups. "Busy?"
Cassie chances about thirty percent of a shoulder lift and is relieved to find that she can shrug that far now without things pulling unfortunately. "Hey, what do I know about it, right? All I know is when he was on Earth between defeating extinction level threats to humanity he seemed to have plenty of time to hang out in Upstate New York with the rest of us. So being Norse god of thunder can't actually be all that time consuming."
The scowl that crosses Luke's face is both childishly familiar and deeply discomforting. "You get why that statement pisses me off about six different ways don't you?"
Eye rolling, as ever, proves to be an entirely painless experience. "Yeah I get it," she replies shortly. "Because if he has the time then why didn't our parents, right? I can't answer that, and I don't try to. I've been wondering about it for years and the best I can do is to say that maybe the gods are just a bit more human than we want them to be. We know they all have different personalities. it's possible Thor's is just less of a deadbeat than our parents are. And well," she huffs on an exhale, realizing that this is the first time she's ever said all of this so plainly out loud to another demigod. "Norse culture has a different idea of parenthood than the Greeks and Romans do."
For a somewhat horrifying moment, blue-gold fire flicks behind Luke's eyes. It dies as quickly as it comes, but Cassie sees it anyways, and seeing it scares her.
She doesn't step backwards. Cassie knows too much about predator psychology to do a thing like that. Retreats signify weakness, stepping forwards is a challenge, staying completely still is dangerous. Instead, Cassie simply lets her hands fall empty towards her sides and allows her weight to recenter itself so that she's rested on the balls of her feet, ready to move whenever she might need to.
It takes Luke a moment to realize what she's done. She can see the moment he does because as soon as it happens a stricken expression breaks across his face. He blinks swallows, and takes two quick steps away, bringing his back up flat against the curved arch of the wall. "Sorry," he mutters. "Cass I'm-" one of his hands half raises and then abruptly drops. "Sorry."
Cassie hears the words, weighs them in her mind against the fears inspired by the brief glimpse of someone- something else in his face, then nods and deliberately changes the subject. "Are you hurt?"
"No," he replies, gratefully seizing up the new topic. "I landed okay. Bruises, but don't waste magic on those. We might need it if we don't get the kind of welcome party we're hoping for."
Cassie nods, and in a show of trust, she deliberately turns her back to Luke and walks towards the only entrance or exit she can see in this little dome of space. "Speaking of," she says. "We've been here a few minutes. Somebody should be coming to get us soon."
She can hear it as Luke moves behind her, coming to cover her six like it's second nature. "Yeah probably. One way or the other." A pause while Cassie presses her ear against the solid metal of the door to strain for the sounds of approaching company. Then, "Any chance you'd give me a knife or something in case its the other kind of way."
A grim smile cracks Cassie's face. "Not a Stygian whistle's probability in the heart of a Greek fire jar," she states cheerfully.
"Figured."
Fortunately for the sake of the plumbed depths of their combined conversational abilities, this is just about exactly when the door opens. Moments later, Cassie has a complete armful of rapidly inquiring pregnant scientist. It's really lucky Jane isn't any taller than Cassie is herself. Though her friend is undoubtedly heavier than she had been last time she'd given Cassie a hug, burdened as she is with six months worth of demigod fetus.
"-just told me you got here. Apparently Heimdall been looking for you all week but he couldn't find you until this morning and then you were moving really quick and he had to find you again. He said there was something going on when you were in London and for a second there I was really worried it was a convergence thing even though all the books say that was a really rare experience but you know the records aren't so exact. What happened? Are you okay? I'm sorry about the whole zappy thing with the Bifrost but I couldn't get in touch with you and I mentioned to Thor that I really really wanted to talk with you about some things because you're the only one who might be able to tell me more about the baby and there are some things I really need to know because none of the healers here know that much about human pregnancy and What to Expect doesn't have a chapter on what to do when Thor is your baby-daddy. And-"
Cassie interrupts Jane by laughing. "It's nice to see you too Jane," she says. "Now to back that up a little and homing in on what I think was the important part of all that, what exactly do you need to talk to me about? I'll answer any questions I can, but I'm not any kind of OBGYN. And you could have just like, called me or something."
Jane's face pinks a little. "My cell doesn't work here," she replies. "I tried to figure out how to do that Iris Message thing you talked about before, but I don't have any of the right kind of coins, and a few of the people here thought it probably wouldn't work anyway after I had explained it. Cultural interference and all."
Cassie nods. It makes a certain amount of sense, the same way that having to use a power converter for sockets in foreign countries makes a certain amount of sense. Which is to say, really not very much, but there are things in the world that are a lot weirder so who is anyone to question it?
"So to clarify," she says. "You asked Heimdall to find me and scoop me up out of thin air to come do a doctor's appointment?"
Jane bites her lower lip, then nods.
Cassie gives her the 'that's perfectly okay. I'm a Doctor and you can come to me with all your questions about this medical things anytime no matter how silly it may seem' smile that they teach as a sub-course in medical school. "Okay," she says calmly. "Well you are about six months. We can call this a second trimester appointment. It's probably a good idea to have one of those. Maybe we can just set up a biweekly appointment from now until your due date so that the whole, 'magically zapped through a rainbow bridge' thing doesn't come as so much of a shock. And I can brace for landings. And not bring unsuspecting passengers."
At those words, Jane seems to notice that Luke is there for the first time. She leans out around Cassie to give him the kind of searching look Cassie normally assumes crosses her face when examining complicated data sets. "Right. And this is..."
"Luke," Cassie introduces. "A former friend. Possibly a future one too. Time'll tell. Anyway, Luke Castellan, meet Dr. Jane Foster."
Luke gives Jane a suspiciously wide smile and Jane's eyebrows shoot up at the wording of her introduction. "Right," she says. "Well, hi. I'm guessing there's a story behind all that that someone can tell me later. Maybe while you come have a cup of tea and poke at some of the Norse magic ultrasound equipment?"
Cassie isn't altogether sure that she and Luke should go wandering around Norse god central given their particular genetic components. In fact, she's half expecting to be violently ejected from Asgard like a faulty organ transplant, but she's not quite sure how to articulate that to Jane without being extremely ominous and worrying. As a rule, Cassie tries not to worry her parents, particularly not the pregnant ones.
"Lead the way," she says, and let's Jane take her by the hand and lead her out along the rainbow bridge.
It takes a bit of effort, but Cassie makes sure not to ever stop abruptly despite the shinning and polished sights before her. The physics of that action could have serious consequences for her second trimester pregnant patient currently trotting along in front of her. She and Jane are pretty close to the same size, but Cassie is definitely stronger thanks to demigod physiology and Jane doesn't have the best balance just now.
She tells herself to blink and take some deep breaths until the over all... brightness of Asgard isn't quite so much to deal with. When the initial dazzle has faded out things are much more manageable. Aside from the obvious stylistic differences, Asgard doesn't look too un-like Olympus pre-Titan War and Annabeth's remodel of 2009. There's more shining metal and space-age seeming elements than marble and doric columns, and the rainbow bridge is definitely it's own thing, but otherwise it's not too strange.
"Huh," is Luke's comment. "Guess all the gods use the same decorator."
The statement pretty well summarizes her own thoughts so Cassie just nods and turns her full attention back to what Jane is trying to tell her about- about- advanced particle physics? Maybe? Okay so maybe this stuff isn't really landing. In Cassie's defense, she did teach herself a very near PhD specialized in Gamma radiation when she was trying to help Banner and could probably sit board examinations in psychiatry given how much she's been studying to help Wanda. Black holes are still on her to-do list.
Walking from the bronze bubble along the rainbow bridge to the throne room takes about fifteen minutes and it doesn't escape Cassie's notice that the closer they get to the main palace, the slower Jane walks. If Cassie had to guess, Thor may have been hovering a little much lately and has probably roped in a few friends. She's just pondering the probable nuisance level of being escorted around by Lady Sif and the Warriors Three when they cross through a quiet, floral-filled patio complete with tasteful decorative water fountain and in to a quiet alcove where Jane abruptly veers to the side.
"Let's sit outside for a second," she declares.
Cassie raises an eyebrow at the back of Jane's head but lets herself be tugged along to sit down next to her. Luke, probably operating on habit more than anything else, turns aside at the edge of the alcove and deliberately faces outwards, leaning against the wall. He doesn't cross his arms, keeping his hands free. It's a guard's position, designed to let him stand in defense of himself and her and Jane at a moments notice. With a sword in his hand, it would be an image almost directly out of all of Cassie's childhood memories pre age thirteen.
She shakes the wash of recollection out of her head and turns to Jane who has lapsed slowly in to quiet. "So," she says. "Not that that I mind a nice trip to Norse god central for a doctor's appointment. It's really not even the weirdest thing I've done today, but it has not exactly escaped my notice that this courtyard, lovely though it is, is very short of any recognizable form of medical equipment. I don't mind if this is a bit of a longer visit, and we should definitely stay in touch better for the next three months, but I told Steve I'd be home today about six hours ago."
"How much of the appointment can you actually do without any of the medical equipment?" Jane asks.
Cassie has to take a second to consider that. "Well I can't ultrasound you with my mind or do any blood tests or anything," she says. "I can tell if you and baby are both healthy and relatively uncomplicated with" she waves a hand vaguely and lets a few sparks jump around her fingers, "this stuff. And I can probably do some kind of update on your medical file. In fact, I should definitely update your medical file."
A look of near relief passes over Jane's face and Cassie adds the reaction to her general impression that Jane is not exactly loving all of the unknowns involved in this process. "Let's do that part first," she says in a rush. "The normal medical stuff. I think your phone should work here."
This turns out to be correct which is a little surprising considering that the magic that normally lets the device function is entirely Greco-Roman in nature. The Wi-Fi connection is truly stunning in speed and clarity and Cassie decides not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Instead she logs in to the Stark company mainframe where she keeps medical files on everyone receiving funding from Tony and then in to the sub-portal for information on the team and their significant others with her personal security codes. Jane's file is easy to get too and Cassie navigates to open a form for a new entry.
"Okay," she says, and reaches up to check that her hair is properly pulled out of her face. She uses the same movement to shoot back the cuffs of her sleeves. Neither movement is necessary given the fact that this examination will only require the bare minimum of physical contact using her powers, but they are habits, lived in and made rote. "Hand please," she requests.
Jane complies immediately and extends her right arm in to Cassie's waiting grip. She extends the medical senses that buzz under her skin and conducts a surface level scan of Jane, and then a second one of the baby. It takes blinking her eyes open to realize that they had been closed. Cassie also isn't sure as to exactly how much time has passed. "Right," she says. "You can have your arm back now."
The hand is retracted and Jane gives her a nervous attempt at a smile. "So?" she asks tremulously. "How am I doing at growing a demigod baby?"
"You're absolutely kicking ass at growing a demigod baby," Cassie assures her, letting herself give her friend a real smile instead of the careful cultivated one she has for professional situations. "Heartbeat is good, yours and the baby's. Your blood pressure is a little bit higher than I'd like but I can tell your nervous at the moment and I wouldn't want to put it down to more than a touch of white coat syndrome." She frowns as she makes a new notation in Jane's record on her phone. "You're a little underweight. Was your morning sickness bad in the first trimester?"
Jane nods. "Really bad for the last four weeks of it or so. My appetite really only came back about a week ago."
Cassie nods and notes down the information. "But no nausea since then?" she checks.
Jane starts to shake her head but then pauses and tips it to the side. "Not really. I mean, Thor came back from a trip to one of the other realms and came back covered in this purple slime stuff. It smelled like, like..." she trails off trying to describe it. "Have you ever had durian fruit?"
Luke says yes at the same time as Cassie shakes her head no. He cranes his neck briefly around to see them both looking at him before he shrugs. "It's the national fruit of Singapore. Smells like rotten flesh and old socks when it's ripe. They keep it frozen and wrapped specially most places it's sold, and they give it to you with gloves so the smell doesn't get on you. You're not allowed to take it on planes."
"That's true," Jane says, eyeing Luke curiously. "How'd you know?"
Luke lifts a shoulder but doesn't answer. Cassie gives Jane another smile, but it probably isn't as natural looking as her last one. "Luke's dad is big in to shipping. He kind of invented it actually. So, the goo on Thor smelled like this stuff and that made you sick. That sounds perfectly natural to me, but keep a note of if anything else makes you feel sick. Also, you should be hitting a pretty big energy boost soon. It's fine to lean in to that a little, but you have to be careful not to over do it. I can get you a list of recommended exercise."
Jane bit her lower lip but noted. "Exercise hasn't ever really been my major pastime, but yeah that might help Thor calm down a little."
"Has he been as nuts about this as you worried he might be?" Cassie asks sympathetically.
"Worse," Jane says with a sigh. "Like you predicted. Getting him to leave Asgard instead of hanging around to hover has been a bit of an ordeal. If there'd been less destruction going on, I don't think he'd have left. He asked people around the palace to keep an eye on me and they are taking it very seriously."
Cassie made a sound she hoped sounded both empathetic and encouraging. "Not that I have much experience on this topic, but I think that kind of behavior isn't even that uncommon for human dads to worry. Especially when the pregnancy hits the point where they can actually see the baby and it becomes a real thing instead of an abstract future." Cassie flicks through to the next page of the form. "Next question, are you feeling much movement?"
Jane nods. "More and more now. At first it was like butterfly wings, now it's more like little taps. They got really intense when you were doing your scan."
"Huh," Cassie considers. "Mind if I take a look?"
"Sure." Jane pulls up the loose tunic top to expose the swollen curve of her stomach. "I kind of figured you'd be seeing it since you're the doctor."
"It seemed polite to ask," Cassie says as she crouches down to put Jane's stomach at eye level. She spares a second to bend her powers in to her fingers to make sure that her hands are warm before she reaches out. "I'm just going to try reaching out," she says. "Like a slightly deeper scan. I just want to see what I can find out."
As Cassie narrates, she takes on the actions she describes and is a little surprised to note the response she gets. A flurry of little kicks and presses push against her fingers where they rest on Jane's belly as Cassie extends her senses. Mentally, she picks up a muffled, but definite presence. She had scanned for vitals before, but this time she's getting a sense of real and actual emotional wellbeing. For a moment, it almost seems like the little light is actually reaching back to greet her. The rapid poking slows, and then the dim impression of a tiny hand, fingers and all, presses against Cassie's fingers.
"Wow," Cassie says out loud. "Now that's interesting. Can you tell me, is the baby more active when Thor or one of the other known mythological Asgardians is around? Like, more movement?"
Jane blinks at her, but then nods. "Now that I'm thinking about it, yeah it is. Only, the kicking and everything normally stops when Thor talks to my stomach. I know they say babies can hear, I think it just likes it's dads' voice."
"Babies can hear at this point," Cassie confirms. "The ears are actually one of the first things to form in utero. Most babies learn the voices of their parents and react to them early in development. The movement is a good sign, and they hear deeper voices more easily so it would makes sense that yours is aware of Thor even taking all the demigod stuff out of the equation. What I just found out was that the baby could feel me, as a demigod when I reached out to do the scan." This time when she smiles up at Jane the expression is completely genuine. "They can, and for what it's worth, they're very warm and happy."
The smile Jane gives her in return is relieved, and not a little watery. Cassie gives her a minute to covertly brush the backs of her hands across her face. "Is that uh," she breaks off to sniff. "Is that all demigods? Or jut anyone who's even a little bit god?"
Cassie shrugs. "Well, if you haven't noticed any particular increase in activity around other Asgardians that's a little hard to say."
"Odin!" Jane exclaims. "The baby shifts around a little for Sif and Freya, but it goes nuts whenever we have a family meal. I used to be able to use it as an excuse to avoid going to those, but then it turned out it made Odin really pleased to know that the baby recognized him"
It takes a moment for Cassie to adjust mentally to the idea of the king of the Norse pantheon as an excited expectant grandad. "Okay," she says after she's gotten her mind back together. "That means they're reacting a little to godly presences. I can't tell you if I did the same as a baby since my mother didn't talk about it and she lived in Florida when she was pregnant with me so being out of the sun was never really and option, but I do know Percy's mom once said Percy kicked a lot less when she was near the ocean. Apparently she went to Cape Code the week before she was due so she could get some sleep."
Cassie makes a few more notes and then gets to her feet to finish off the exam. She asks a round of the standard questions to do with prenatal vitamins, sleep, hydration, nutrition, and the standard rules regarding caffeine and alcohol. Jane is thankfully well informed and reveals that she had printed out several pages worth of informational sources that Cassie had recommended before everything had fallen apart Upstate.
"Alright then," Cassie says, logging out of the health files on her phone and returning the device to her pocket. "That's everything standard for a six month check up apart from an ultrasound. Even with my abilities, that's still the best way for me to get a look at the baby to check size and development milestones. Normally this is also the point in a pregnancy when you'd start having a bi-weekly appointment to keep track of things. If you want me to keep being your primary healthcare provider in all this, I'll need to get familiar with whatever equivalent they have of that up here."
As she had hoped, Jane is a little calmer about this prospect now that they now the baby is okay than she had been when the impromptu appointment had begun. Without any further hesitation, Jane gets up and beckons for Cassie and Luke to follow her. "The palace medical wing is this way."
The two of them chat a bit about life in Wakanda and Switzerland as they walk and Cassie is glad to see that her friend seems relaxed enough in her surroundings to not feel the need to be constantly self-aware. She had worried about how out of place Jane might feel as a mortal in a godly realm. That said, Cassie herself is very conscious of which directions they take, and of Luke walking a few paces behind them making the same observations of their path and potential exit routes.
The palace infirmary is both like and unlike every other place of healing Cassie has ever stepped foot in. The colors are light and southing, and there are large windows all along one wall to let light and air through. The smell that hangs in the air isn't unpleasant or overly sharp, but it does carry the tang of a cleaner produced and distributed in industrial amounts. Only one of the beds is occupied, and the patient seems to be sleeping peacefully beneath clean blue blankets.
There's one female Asgardian in the infirmary engaged in typing notes in to something that shares at least a passing relationship ship to a tablet computer. She looks up when they enter and stands to greet them. "Lady Jane!" she says as she stands up. "We weren't sure whether to expect you today."
Jane flushes and Cassie mentally confirms her suspicion that her patient has been doing everything she can to minimize hovering by refusing to go to the infirmary unless strictly required and scheduled. Or possibly just forgetting when she's supposed to go in fits of absentmindedness. Hopefully Cassie will be able to break her out of the habit today.
"Heimdall was able to find Cassie for me and transport her and her traveling companion here with the Bifrost. I wanted to thank him for that but he wasn't on the bridge outpost when I went to go pick them up." Jane steps to the side and gestures to Cassie and Luke. "Lady Freya, these are Cassie Morgenstern and Luke Castellan."
Luke and Cassie exchange a quick glance at each other after hearing the introduction, then do what good little half-bloods do when confronted with gods unexpectedly and polite bow their heads while vocalizing how very honored they are. It's a please-don't-smite-me mechanism that sometimes goes out the window very, very quickly, but seems to have been a decent bet this time around. No smiting takes place, and Cassie has the time to mentally rifle through everything she's ever learned, actively or passively, about Freya's godly profile.
Most of what she remembers is reassuring, though not necessarily helpful. The goddess is Magnus' aunt, twin sister of Frey, goddess of love and fertility as well as war and death, and a very powerful magic user. She's a bit like Hecate, Venus, Athena, and Thanatos all rolled in to one. A dangerous enemy, but a powerful ally to have amongst the gods.
"It is a pleasure to meet you both," the goddess says, blue yes bright. "I have heard the most interesting things about you from Thor and my nephew, daughter of morning star. And you, little thief-" she considers Luke for a moment, twining the end of her shining golden braid absently around one finger. "Well your life so far has been quite interesting hasn't it?"
Cassie doesn't particularly want to see how Luke will respond to that so she makes sure to speak first. "The honor is ours, Lady Freya."
This is when Jane steps forwards again. "Cassie is the one who realized I was pregnant," she explains. "She was my doctor on Earth and I want her to be around when I give birth. She was just checking up on the baby. Almost everything is done already, but she wants to get familiar with the equipment and get a real look with an ultrasound. Or whatever you have here that's close to an ultrasound."
Freya nods understandingly. "While anyone who works in these halls would be pleased to oversee your care, I acknowledge that a familiar healer is often the most efficient one. There are several instruments of healing here in the halls which could be used to obtain a full assessment of the child's health complete with images."
"That would be appreciated," Cassie says with gratitude. "I can tell that both Jane and her baby are healthy using my abilities, and I've delivered babies before, but this is the first time I've provided complete maternity care."
What follows is a crash course in Asgardian pre-natal and maternity medicine presented by a very enthusiastic goddess. It's like the most intense clinic seminar Cassie ever attended in medical school and by the time Freya is done her head is spinning with new information and there's a dim, but familiar, ringing in her ears as the knowledge settles in to place.
"I'll leave you to let all of that sink in," Freya announces, taking pity on her and turning to Jane who had seemed almost as interested in learning how that equipment worked as Cassie had been. "As I gather you are planning on viewing the baby, perhaps you would like me to summon Lord Thor? I'm sure he wouldn't want to miss it." Jane thanks her and the goddess leaves with a smile for them all.
The door shuts behind her and they all let the silence hang for a few moments before Luke speaks. "Well, that wasn't what I was expecting."
Cassie raises an eyebrow at him. "Less smiting and superiority?"
"Something like that."
Cassie huffs a small laugh and then turns her attention back to Jane. "Why don't you pick a bed and hop up to get comfortable," she suggests. "I'll get the fancy Norse magic ultrasound turned on and ready while we wait for Thor."
Jane shrugs but does as Cassie suggests and climbs on to a nearby medical cot. "Okay, but I don't think we'll be waiting long. Thor always moves fast when he wants and lately whenever anyone mentions me or the baby he less flies and more does that teleport-y thing you do."
"I'd better get working then," Cassie jokes. "Wouldn't want to keep anybody waiting. Meanwhile, Luke, don't touch anything." The man in question scowls but hold up his hands so Cassie can see that they're empty and takes up a new guard post standing on the sill of one of the open full-length windows. "Jane?" Cassie continues quietly. "About Thor hovering, I know I'm not an expert and I'm not pregnant, but my husband is also a champion mother-hen. The only thing I can suggest is having a real and long conversation where you ask for a little space and explain how you're feeling. He wants to support you, and right now you should probably let him, but he loves you enough to give you that support in the format that you actually want if you tell him what that is."
Jane sighs. "Thanks. It's good advice. He's just so excited about all this and I am too mostly, but then something will happen around here, or I'll just meet a random god in the hall, and there's so much to worry about and wonder about and not know."
Cassie reaches out and lays a hand on her shoulder in support. "I think most expectant parents feel some level of overwhelmed. No one actually knows what they're doing at this stage and you've got a few more complications than most to think over."
"Yeah," Jane reaches up and pats her hand on her shoulder. "That's part of why I wanted you here."
Cassie wisely chooses to not say that she doesn't get what she's doing right now either and this is all kind of a first time experience for her too. They give a whole lecture in medical school about never implying that you don't know what you're doing to your patients. Apparently, it's concerning for them.
She gets the ultrasound-like device powered on just as Thor comes through the door and engulfs her in a hug. "Friend Cassandra!" he booms in to her ear. "Asgard is most pleased to host you this day! And you have my additional thanks for tending to Jane. I know she was eager to see you."
Cassie pats one broad shoulder as she returns the hug with her other arm. "Nice to see you too Thor," she replies, and she's pretty proud of herself that the words only sound a little bit wheezy. "Jane and I have already done most of the appointment. It's been nice having a chance to catch up."
Thor deposits her back on the ground, her feet had parted company with it when she'd been hugged, and takes a step back. "I'm glad that you two ladies have enjoyed yourselves. When you leave I will of course have Heimdall deposit you wherever you wish to be. I encountered him earlier and he mentioned that you had been in transit away from some form of dimensional disturbance when he intercepted you."
"Yeah," Cassie frowns at the memory. "There was kind of a weird ripple. I've never seen anything like it. But investigating can wait for another time. Right now, let's get you and Jane some pictures of your baby."
The smile Thor gives her is nearly as blinding as a lightning strike. Then he moves to Jane's side. He's tall enough that instead of pulling up a chair, the god simply kneels by the head of Jane's bed and takes her hand. "Hello Beloved," he greets in a voice so soft and warm Cassie is happy to have the ultrasound mechanism to give herself something else to look at as Thor kisses the back of Jane's hand. "I am glad that you have had a pleasant day."
"It was very good," Jane assures him then she jerks her chin towards Cassie. "Now let's make it perfect."
Asgardian technology isn't so much alien as it is so advanced it makes the Earth version seem unbearably outdated. The image it renders of the baby is completely pixel clear, three dimensional, and in full live video. The demigod-to be has their eyes peacefully shut and their thumb in their mouth. Its little feet are wiggling gently and as they watch the little being stretches.
Cassie gives them a minute to enjoy the image privately while she reads the informational read out and makes a mental note of a few additional details to add to Jane's file before breaking in. "So, with this thing I can tell you know what the biological sex of the baby is. Always bearing in mind that the mind might not match, gender can be fluid, children do not have to be dressed in coded colors to differentiate whether they're boys or girls, and there's a social debate going around now about whether the whole thing is just a construct."
Jane has tears in her eyes for a second time that day when she pulls her eyes from the image of her baby to answer Cassie's question. "Even knowing all that I'd still like to find out." Her fingers tighten a little around Thor's hand as the god of thunder bends his head to press a kiss over the top of the dome of her stomach. "One less unknown. But only if Thor wants to find out too."
The god only lifts his head to place a new kiss on Jane's temple. "Whatever my lady wishes."
Cassie grins. "Well then congratulations guys. It's a boy."
A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry about how long this has taken to get out. I'm coming in to my last three weeks of college and it has been a time fitting everything in lately. Hopefully the length of this chapter helps make up for it a little! I had planned to get them off Asgard this chapter, but that ended up taking more words than I was expecting and I didn't want to go that long. Luke and Cassie are going to have some interesting things to talk about after they leave Asgard and I wanted them to have time to talk in general which is why I'm giving them a little mini road trip equivalent. Next chapter will see them popping in for the end of Doctor Strange. I don't know when I'll get it posted but the ideas do exist! Anyway, let me know what you guys thought. Review for me! xoxoxoxoxoxoxox
P.S. My description of Freya is mostly taken from the Magnus Chase books with a little spin of my own. I'm less familiar with those than I am the original PJO installments so sorry if she's not so spot on to Riordanverse cannon.