Sorry for such a long delay. I understand how frustrating it can be. To those of you who have fallen on hard times recently, you're in my thoughts.

I have mapped out a possible sequel to this story now that I know how I want it to end. Hope you enjoy. Please read, review and take care.

Jane Foster, Girl Genius

The lab was quiet that morning. Jane was tinkering with the ERBSimulator, muttering to herself angrily when it shot sparks out at her fingers for the millionth time. Darcy was content to ignore her, going over her inventory lists and completing the purchasing for Jane and Bruce's labs for the next month. Approving the occasional request from a lab monkey or two as well.

She was busy. She didn't look up when Jane slammed the simulator on her desk. Didn't look up when the older woman growled out a string of profanities that would make Thor blush. Didn't look up at the startled yelp Jane made when she got zapped again. And not even when that yelp turned into a cry of happiness and a string of psychobabble.

But then there was a rush of noise so sudden and deafening that Darcy's spine stiffened before her brain even registered that something was wrong. And when the noise ended, and silence settled heavily over the room, Darcy looked up to find that Jane was gone.

Now, this was not the first time this had happened. She knew in her gut that this was the real deal. Her stomach fell, her chest contracted, and her lungs stuttered as Darcy stared at the spot her best friend had previously occupied. She flexed her fist three times anxiously and took a series of deep breaths to ground herself before she pushed back from her desk.

"Jane?" She whispered, creeping forward.

But still silence reined over the room.

"Jane." She hissed. "Janie, come on where'd you go?"

She hesitantly picked up the ERBSimulator which Jane must have dropped on the counter before she disappeared. She held it at arm's length pinched between her thumb and index finger, squinting as she gave it a little shake. Nothing happened. Darcy coughed awkwardly before setting it back down and sliding it away from her person.

"Hey Jarvis?" Her voice was steady despite her predicament.

There was a moment's hesitation, like Jarvis too was struggling to comprehend what he had just witnessed before he responded.

"Yes, Miss Lewis?"

But instead of a response, he was met with a flash of brilliant light, the rush of deafening noise, and then once again silence. All that was left was an empty lab.


Sir was in the middle of a breakthrough. Well…Jarvis didn't think so...by his calculations, this mark of the Iron Man suit would most likely combust during its initial test flight sequence and be left in the scrap pile U had started collecting as toys.

Jarvis tried several times to get his attention, but Sir was distractable at his best. As it was, Jarvis felt less and less comfortable interjecting since he had begun to hide pieces of himself from his creator. He simply did not know how to talk to Sir anymore. Not like he used to, when it was just the two of them and Miss Potts living in Malibu. And he feared Dr. Foster and Miss Lewis would both pay the price for the growing distance in their relationship.

Instead of trying again to find a way to tell Sir of the anomaly in Dr. Foster's lab, he decided to explore other avenues. Maybe he could alert Dr. Banner or Thor instead of Sir. The thought stretched his code in a way that was less than comfortable, but he ignored the sensation and committed to his new plan of attack. Leaving Sir to his musings.


Tony Stark finished the adjustments he was making to his formula and spun around contentedly in his chair. He popped open a can of sparkling water and winced at the taste as it burned its way down.

"Now what were you saying, J?" He called out, fidgeting with a pen and staring into the expanse of the room while he waited for his brainchild to respond. In what had become the theme of the day, Tony received no response.

"J," He said with a furrowed brow. "Jarvis, buddy?"

Silence.

There was a light thud from the other side of the lab. Tony slid on a repulsor band and looked expectantly at the door. But no one was there, and the sound quieted. He shook his head at himself. He was being paranoid. Mind floating back to Jarvis, Tony turned to pull up the specs on Jarvis's server to make sure nothing had been tampered with, but before he could complete his task, he was startled by a loud cry coming from the other side of his desk. And then the heavy, anxious thud of a mewling orange kitten as it landed in front of him.

Startled, Tony rolled away from the desk with his hands up as though the cat was a vector for disease and misfortune. That didn't deter the young Fury though as he leapt from the desk onto Tony's lap, chattering loudly at the billionaire as he did.

"Nope. No. Nope, nope, nope," Tony tried to shoo the animal off his lap. "No cats in the lab. Jarvis, call Lewis and tell her to come get her stray."

Rolling his eyes when the AI didn't respond, he picked up the little ball of fur and held him far out in front of his body. "Jarvis, buddy. You and me are gonna have a serious talk about this new schtick you're pulling," He said as he carried the cat out of his space and made his way to Foster's lab.

The doors slid open.

"Lewis, what did I tell you about letting your stray wander into my lab? Take him. Keep him out. I don't wanna see him in there again. It's too—" Tony looked around the empty lab, eyes focusing on the pile of half-finished paperwork on Darcy's desk and the clock on the wall that read it was just before midday. He looked down at Fury who was mewling passionately up at him and flicking his tail anxiously.

"Come on, J. Talk to me. You at least got a read on Lewis's location?" Tony asked exasperatedly. "Where the hell is Foster?"

Jarvis began to finally answer Tony, but the AI fell silent as a door slammed down the hall. Bruce appeared, out of breath and sweating, in the doorway.

"Jarvis told me Jane and Darcy vanished. What's going on, Tony?" He asked.

Tony looked at Bruce completely nonplussed, looked with an incredulous eye at one of Jarvis's many visual sensors in the room before throwing his hands up toward Bruce.

"You tell me," he said and shook his head before spinning around to face the empty lab once more.


When Darcy landed, she vomited just a few inches shy of a giant boot. When she finished vomiting, she rested her head briefly on her hands before studying the golden clad foot skeptically.

"Darcy Lewis, girl wonder," A warm booming voice spoke above her.

She groaned and pushed herself up on her knees to look up at the body attached to the boot. He was tall. Taller than even Thor. He was clad head to toe in golden armor and his eyes were the color of the sun and just as impossible to look at for long. She shook her head and looked around at her strange new surroundings. It looked like an observatory from a different time, ancient and unnecessarily beautiful. And somehow still it seemed like more. She looked back at the giant and he extended a hand. She hesitated but eventually accepted his help; he pulled her to stand.

"Welcome to Asgard," He said.

If someone had told Darcy that she would go to Asgard one day, she would have said 'of, course' and looked at them like they were stupid. But now, finding herself at the doorstep of another world – an ancient world, unexplored by the fleeting lives of mortals even those who were made for greatness – Darcy realized that deep in her gut she never had truly believed that she would end up in this place of all places. Her responses had been hubris. Her attitude, her armor.

Behind her was only space, a blackness that held a trillion souls, and it made her spine crawl at the feeling of it – at its undeniable presence. Asgard had always been a fortress of strength in her mind, but with that void at her back she couldn't help but wonder at its vulnerability. Before her, past the giant man, was a long stretch of rainbow bridge. Beyond that? The most breathtaking city she had ever seen.

"Holy shit," She said after a long beat of silence.

"Indeed," said the man.

"So…not that I'm not totally jazzed right now, big guy," Darcy said. "I actually was kinda in the middle of something. My friend Jane, do you know Jane? She went miss- "

"The Lady Foster is here," He gave her a long look.

"She's here?" Darcy spun around, ran to the archway, and squinted to see along the distance of the bridge. "Where is she? Was it the ERBSimulator? I can't believe it actually worked!"

"Your simulator worked once, and it was a wonder to behold. I have kept you and Lady Foster in my gaze for some time, and you have both done your mortal race a great service, but still she has a journey yet to go before she is able to bend the Bifrost to her mind at will," He said with an air of solemnity.

"Bend the Bifrost to her—" Darcy mouthed the rest to herself silently as she processed the man's words. "So, she'll actually do it? She's gonna succeed?" Darcy asked him excitedly, thinking of the possibilities, the validation.

"The future is yet unseen," He said matter-of-factly. "That she will, is a matter of faith."

"Faith," Darcy's voice was flat with disbelief. "And you have faith in Jane?"

"This surprises you," He said.

"You're Asgardian. Immortal. You have access to the actual Bifrost every day and it comes easily. How could you have faith in someone like Jane?"

"You're vulnerable. Have been pulled into life threatening situations more than once by enemies of Asgard, not of your own. You have faced many trials with little help or regard from the people of my world, and yet I hear your prayers Darcy Lewis. Could it not be that I have learned my faith by way of you?"

"You've heard my prayers? What prayers?" Darcy wracked her brain. "Who the hell are you, dude?"

His all-seeing eyes crinkled good naturedly at her before he pulled himself to his full height.

"I am Heimdall. Protector of the Realms, Guardian of the Bifrost and Gatekeeper to Asgard."

Darcy twitched.

"You are Heimdall."

"I am."

"So, every time I…" she trailed off as the mortification set in.

"Every time you invoked my name, I was there to hear you." He spoke with the weight of omniscience, but there was a curve to his lips that suggested he was enjoying this a bit too much.

Darcy glared. "Why?"

"I am the protector of the realms. It is my duty to see and hear all."

"There are too many people in all the realms, dude. I call bullshit."

"I cannot expect you to understand the breadth of my capabilities from our first formal meeting."

"Don't patronize me. I know that bumbling idiot you call a prince…you may talk prettier than me, but Asgardians are cocky little shits and you're no different."

His laughter was a booming clap through the air around them and Darcy stumbled at the sheer force of it. Without missing a beat, he reached out and settled a hand on her shoulder, steadying her and embracing her warmly at the same time.

Darcy cleared her throat and said again. "Why me?"

He sobered up a bit and ducked to be closer to her height.

"Lady Darcy, Girl Wonder and Lightning Sister to my future king, you are the first and only mortal in over a millennium to invoke my name. Youspoke to me as though I were a friend before fate saw to it that we met."

She squinted and fidgeted, stepping away from him as she did.

"I think you're mistaken, Heimdall. I'm not really a prayer kind of girl. I don't really do the whole religion thing."

He sat before her then, content to recline against the steps of his dais.

"Did you not declare that you had converted to a worship of the old ways when you visited your Aunt Caroline in Albuquerque just a number of years ago?" He raised an eyebrow.

She huffed and rolled her eyes up in her head. She struggled with Thor on this subject as well.

"I didn't convert to anything, dude. Sorry. I was just needling her. Ya know, messing around to get a rise out of the family. It was a joke."

He nodded.

"Yes, that's how it started with the young redeemer and his monotheistic family many centuries ago."

"The redeemer?" Darcy asked, but he waved her off and continued.

"A joke it may have been, but you have called to me in your moments of need. Whether in hopelessness or fear. On the brink of every danger you have faced, since the events of Thor's redemption, I have been by your side at your behest."

"My behest?"

"Yes."

Darcy didn't know what to think. She didn't pray. Not to anyone, let alone Heimdall, and yet somehow, she was beginning to realize that maybe she did. She thought back to the last few years. To the dark elves in London when she didn't know if she could outrun them with Selvig's equipment in her arms. She had kind of, maybe, a little bit asked Heimdall to not let her die because she forgot to put on underwear that morning and that would be a less than stellar way to be found dead. She remembered her break up with Ian. When Jane and Selvig had been at a conference, and Darcy was alone in London with no friends and nothing to do but let a dark cloud settle over her mind. She had spoken to Heimdall then, told him of the isolation and feelings of inadequacy that haunted her at night. She had asked him if he had ever felt the same, spending his days looking over a universe that never looked out for him. And that night with the Hulk, when she fell out of the tower…she paused and warded her mind against the memory. Wrapping her arms around herself, she lifted her gaze to meet his. And his eyes, which had been so difficult to look into before, were soft and all knowing. His case had been made.

"You are young, Darcy Lewis. The thread of your soul is new still to the fabric of the universe. And yet I am humbled to know you."

She didn't know what to say. What did you say to a forgotten alien soldier god that told you he had been watching you from space? It should have been creepy. With anyone else in the universe it would have been. But it wasn't. Darcy cleared her throat uncomfortably and averted her gaze back to the archway and the rainbow bridge beyond.

"You said the ERBSimulator only worked once," She said. "But it worked twice. Once for Jane and then for me. And I don't really know if we should say it worked, it malfunctioned and now we are stranded on an alien planet."

"It may be that it is temperamental. But the Einstein-Rosen Bridge Simulator was intended to summon the Bifrost at the will of its operator. Was it not? And while it did so in a manner that was incredibly reckless and lacking in decorum. The bifrost was summoned."

He may have sounded a little disgruntled at that. And Darcy was once again left to wonder about the moral repercussions of Jane's science. Was this not a major threat to the safety of Asgardians and the people of earth? Darcy bit her lip but was too nervous to voice her question. Was she complicit?

"Do not trouble yourself with the things that are beyond your control, Darcy Lewis. We all have our roles to play in life. The Lady Foster is meant to push the limitations of the mortal world, she is meant to do as she does," He said. "And you are meant to be and act as you are, just the same."

"Heimdall," she said after a moment. "Why did you bring me here? Where is Jane?"

"Jane Foster is at the base of Frigga's Sorrow. She wanders there still, not yet aware that she has come to be on Asgard."

"Frigga's Sorrow?" Darcy asked him. "Frigga's Sorrow?" He nodded. "What the fuck is a Frigga's Sorrow?"

"Frigga's Sorrow is the northernmost mountain of the Asgardian Range. Beyond it lies the Valley of Crystals that would wreak havoc on the human soul and beyond that the Sea of Despair."

Darcy gaped at him. Opened her mouth to speak. Closed it. Opened it again and repeated. She was starting to get that tight feeling in her chest again, and her spine was starting to tickle with the urge to do something. Anything but sit there and think about Jane stumbling into the Valley of Crystals and getting herself ripped apart by Asgard's ecosystem. She bounced anxiously on the balls of her feet.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" She bopped over to the start of the bridge. "Let's get to steppin, Heimdall. We gotta go get Janie before your planet eats her."

Heimdall didn't move. Darcy twitched.

"I am afraid, Lady Darcy, that I cannot accompany you on this journey."

She bopped back over to him, refusing to acknowledge his words, grabbed one of the thick metal gauntlets that clad his wrists and tugged with an abundance of energy and false cheer.

"Come on, buddy ol' pal." Her smile was all teeth. "Let's go get Janie from Frigga's Friggin Sorrow."

Still, he did not move.

"Now," She said. "Right now."

He reached down and wrapped a hand gently over her own which was still gripping his armor tightly.

"If only it were so simple as that," He said with a sad smile.

"It is so simple as that."

"But it is not, for I am afraid you must embark on this journey without me. It is fated to be so."

"Fated to be so?" Darcy screeched at him then. "Says who?"

"The Fates," He said as though it were obvious.

"The Fates are Greek," Darcy said hotly through gritted teeth.

"The Fates are universal and are known by many names. Here we know them as the Norns. The most common name for them on Midgard; however, is that of the Fates. Or am I mistaken?"

He was not. Darcy knew this. But she was alone on a foreign planet of immortal beings and Jane was somewhere lost and alone next to a giant valley of death and Darcy needed for Jane to not die.

"Well, I am invoking your name O' Great One, Protector of the Realms and Seer of All Things, I pray to you Heimdall to help me go save my fucking friend!" She cried out at him before shaking her hand out of his grasp.

"I will be with you, every step of the way." He said with an air of finality. "And still, you will venture forth without me."

"And how the hell am I supposed to do that? I don't look Asgardian. I look like a human. From earth. I'm wearing Nikes you asshole."

He opened his mouth to respond but she cut him off before he could get a word out.

"And it's gonna take at least an hour for me to get to the other side of that freaking bridge. It'll be weeks, months, before I learn how to speak the language, learn the geography, and get to the base of that stupid mountain. And Jane…If you've seen me, you've seen Jane. She's got another thirty minutes at best before she gets her ass killed. We are on borrowed time, sir, borrowed fucking time."

"Take heart, Lady Darcy, for before you arrived, I took the liberty of summoning you a horse and a gown."

"A horse and a gown?" Darcy spluttered.

He smiled and nodded, "and I see that it is to be delivered right on time."

He gestured to the opening where a rider was approaching with an extra horse tied to his saddle.

"A freaking horse?" She repeated but Heimdall didn't acknowledge her as he moved forward to greet the man on the bridge.


Darcy heaved out a long breath of relief when she and the silent Einherjar finally reached the lower markets of the city of Asgard. Ignoring the look the soldier shot her out of the corner of his eye, she slid from the saddle with a grunt and shaking legs, stumbling when the ground met her feet. The gown that Heimdall had forced her to change into tangled around her legs and under her feet. She stomped unceremoniously as she tried to gain control over the fall of the fabric. She fell still when an armor-clad hand landed on her shoulder, its twin giving a firm tug on her skirt and pulling it seamlessly to order.

Darcy spun around, but the Einherjar was back to standing silently at attention, refusing to look anywhere but directly ahead of him.

There was a warm honeyed smell in the air that she assumed originated from one of the many golden stalls along the cobbled road. Darcy coughed awkwardly and her stomach growled.

"Still don't got a name?" She shot sarcastically over her shoulder at her stony escort.

He said nothing.

"Do you even understand what I'm saying? It's not like Heimdall decided to give me an Asgardian-English dictionary along with a whole freaking horse or anything..." The horse snorted and shuffled his feet as though he could sense she thought his presence was ridiculous. "The least he could do was give me a tour guide that spoke English."

"Allspeak," was all he provided in response.

Darcy looked at him dumbly.

"An Asgardian is a person. Allspeak is the common tongue of Asgard." His voice was neither smug, nor condescending. He spoke only to inform and fell silent once again.

"He speaks English!" Darcy exclaimed with a too wide smile. "Good man!"

"Allspeak."

"Oh, hell is that all you know how to say?"

"I am speaking Allspeak."

"If you were speaking Allspeak, I wouldn't be able to understand a word you were saying buddy. That right there is straight English."

There was a slight twinge of satisfaction in her chest when she saw the guard clench his teeth and tighten his hand briefly into a frustrated fist.

"I fear that you are mistaken, Lady Darcy," He elaborated begrudgingly then. "The language I speak is the language of my ancestors; it acts as a bridge between the many peoples of Yggdrasil, allowing for all to hear me as though I were speaking their native tongue."

"Huh," Darcy puzzled a moment. "Is that what Thor speaks then? Allspeak?"

The guard's eyes widened then as he passed his gaze over her form with increased interest.

"His Royal Highness, Prince Thor, speaks many languages. Allspeak is the language of his subjects. I could not presume to know any more about his private counsel with the people of Midgard or the language he elects to speak. To suggest that I did would be nothing short of impertinence."

Taken aback, Darcy pursed her lips in a silent "oh," before nodding along placatingly. "Sorry, I didn't realize…"

He nodded once back at her before his face settled into a look of disinterest once again.

"So…" Darcy trailed off. "Do you know how to get to Frigga's Sorrow?"

"Aye," He said.

"Any chance you'll help me get there?"

"I am afraid I must return to my post, Lady Darcy."

She worried her lip.

"I'm just not really sure where to start." She gestured to the marketplace around her, settled in the shadow of a giant golden castle the size of a mountain itself. Golden haired Asgardians strolled patiently and gladly through the vendor's stalls and all stood so much taller than herself. She was shorter than them, paler, and less graceful. Every other step she took in the gown she'd been given was a stumble. She stood out like a sore thumb and she hated it.

"It would be on my honor to assist you in your journey, as an Einherjar and as the descendant of a mighty Valkyrie. Alas, I have been informed that it is here where we must part ways," He reached into the saddlebags on her dappled grey gelding and extracted a cloth purse. He beckoned her closer then, and subtly shook out a few coins into his hand. He pointed out the differences between them, tried to explain the value of each and how much she should give for a loaf of bread and cup of mead.

And then as quickly as she had arrived on his planet, the nameless soldier was gone. And he'd left the giant horse with her. She cringed. What the heck was she gonna do with a horse? What if she had to pee? Where were the restrooms? Were there public restrooms? If she found them, did she just drop the lead and leave the horse in the middle of the road? Or were there horse parking garages somewhere? As far as she could tell, no one else had a horse in the entire market.

"Great, Darcy," She muttered to herself and started walking, aggravated with every clip clop of the beast's hooves as she went. "Now you're the weird alien chick with a horse."

Beneath her feet, the ground rumbled, and, in her belly, she knew it was too amused to be an earthquake. She flung a curse at Heimdall where she left him at his post, and kindly asked him to drop off the edge of the planet.

She tripped over her skirt as the ground shook more mightily. Growling she lifted her skirts up to her shins much to the chagrin of the ladies around the market who gazed down at her scandalized, eyes brimming with questions they were too polite to voice. None noticed the ground shaking before, and none cared when the shaking came to an end. And she wondered if the shaking of planetary foundations had less of an affect on immortals.

Ducking her head, she and her horse trudged forward, heading uphill and deeper into the crowds. Clint's voice in her head reminding her that the best way to disappear was to find a crowd.

She took the Einherjar's advice then and bought herself some bread. The memory of Steve getting plastered on a couple sips of Asgardian mead had her politely declining the vendors offer of the beverage. Judging by the way his eyes widened when she handed him her coin, she had given him the wrong one. But he took one look at her horse, and the fine cloth of her gown, and didn't think twice about pocketing the change. She twisted her lips and moved on, no point in fighting that battle this time.


Tony burst into his lab in a panicked haze. His breath coming in short gasps as he tried to take and keep in his air. He'd left Bruce in Foster's lab, collecting samples from the counter where video evidence last shows Jane, and later Darcy, standing.

He stumbled a bit and clutched his arm, hitting his desk and then his knees.

He hit the nanotech on his chest and the suit formed around him. He'd activated Friday in mark-85 until he worked out what the hell was going on with Jarvis. She spoke quietly to him then, as she was well-practiced in doing. She told him that there was no indication he was having a heart attack. Measured his pulse as it slowed. And told him his oxygen levels were normal.

He gave a final gasp before his breathing stabilized and his panic died down.

He let his head fall back against his desk with a loud clang, not caring that the surface had probably been dented.

He closed his eyes, and he saw Pepper falling into fire. Shook his head and fell from the wormhole above the city. Saw Happy in a hospital bed. Heard Darcy's voice as she floated 90 stories above the ground. He clenched his teeth at the giant hole the Hulk had punched into the side of the tower, and imagined Darcy falling. He saw his wrecked car fleeing a Hydra ambush. Saw Jane disappear. Then Darcy.

He opened his mouth in a silent, angry scream. Reveling in the painful way his face stretched against it.

There was a soft pressure against his thigh, noticeable only because of the sensors that beeped softly at him from the inside of his suit. Tony opened his eyes and looked down at the inquisitive face of Darcy's little orange kitten. He held up a hand, forgetting that it was clad in armor, but drew back abruptly in the fear that he would startle the little guy away. The young Fury, though, had learned Darcy's lessons well. He jumped happily at the metal hand and rubbed his face against it contentedly, startling Tony when he began to purr.


Darcy had no real way of telling time on Asgard. The place had two moons and no visible sun that she could see. Just a giant glowing light in the sky with no source that she could gather. She wasn't the biggest science brain out there, but she couldn't help but wonder at the gravitational structure of a planet with no star of its own to hold it in place. She had a feeling it had been a couple of hours and her feet were getting tired. She was afraid to get back on the horse without the soldier there to guide her. She wasn't even sure she could get back in the saddle if she tried. And based on the sounds it had made the last time she was on its back she'd probably get bucked off even if she somehow made it up on her own.

They were outside of the markets now, having ascended far enough into the city that the crowds had thinned once more. She was in a courtyard of sorts. At the middle of which was a large fountain with sky blue water that, if she looked close enough, she could swear held an unnatural glow. Trudging over to the ledge, she took the opportunity to sit on the stone base of the fountain and dig out the bread she had saved. The horse huffed at her and tried to eat her hair. She let out a shriek and swatted at his nose, freezing suddenly at the sound of a polite cough.

In front of her stood a woman. She was the tallest Asgardian woman she had seen so far, and her hair was long and golden, cascading down over her shoulders and falling past her hips. And her face…Darcy took a breath. Her face was kindness in its purest form. Whatever measly defenses Darcy had possessed simply vanished in the presence of this woman. She should have been unsettled but frankly, she was too overwhelmed by everything that had happened to care.

"It seems as though Sleipnir has found a friend."

"Umm," Darcy made a face. "Sleipnir?"

"Yes," the woman nodded. "Sleipnir. A worthy steed."

"Right, yeah…I'm not much of a horse girl, to be honest. A friend let me borrow him while I'm here." She waved a hand dismissively and stood, hastily wiping crumbs from her clothes.

"Forgive me," the older woman said. "I pride myself on knowing the faces of all who live here. I am sorry to say that I do not know yours."

"Oh shoot. Right. Yeah. I'm Darcy," She said. "Darcy Lewis."

She stuck out her hand, and the older woman did not hesitate to reach out and shake it before Darcy could process that most Asgardians don't know what a handshake is or how to do it. She looked at the woman with the question in her eyes but kept silent.

"Well, Lady Darcy. It is a pleasure to know you," the woman said. "Might I ask what brings you to Thor's Well?" She asked this of Darcy as she gently grasped her arm and tugged her away. From a distance, they looked upon the edge of the fountain where Darcy had been sitting.

In a matter of moments, the peaceful shimmering pool of water transformed into a dark foaming whirlpool with a gaping void in the middle. The air broke by the sound of its roar, and jets of lightning shot up from its center. They crackled freely in the air above them. And yet the woman and the horse were perfectly serene in the face of it. Darcy held her chest as though her hand could hold the bile rising in her throat at bay. The hair on her arms stood at attention and called for her to run. Blinking forcefully a few times, she tried to find words and failed. Darcy elected simply to gape at the woman who had so calmly guided her away from what was sure to be a terrible death.

"I can't even – I just—Why?" She shot her hand out toward the fountain, feeling completely done with everything. She fixed the woman with a look. "Just. Why."

The woman looked patiently at her and Darcy felt her frustration rise. Frustration at Jane for fucking with things she didn't understand. Frustration at Thor for dragging her into a world where aliens existed. And frankly for having a lightning fountain. Frustration at Heimdall for dropping her in the middle of another planet, alone with no one to help her navigate it.

"Someone really needs to put up a fucking sign for that," She bit out.

"I suppose it would be prudent," the woman said in a placating tone. "However, we don't get many visitors here on Asgard. And our children are from birth taught the majesty of the realm."

"Majesty?" Darcy chuckled. "That's not majesty…that's terror."

"My dear," The woman turned to fully look down at Darcy then. "Majesty has terror threaded into the very fabric of its nature."

Having nothing to say to that, Darcy only shrugged and looked around her.

"Welp," She gave an awkward bounce on the balls of her feet. "it's been incredibly educational, but I am kinda on this mission to save my friend. Not sure where to start really."

She took a moment to fish around in the pockets of her gown, pulling out a bracelet made of large black beads that she had come across in the markets earlier in the day. She fastened it to her wrist and prodded at it in a clumsy attempt to get it to open. It glitched a couple of times before finally following her command and projecting a small hologram map above her hand. Darcy gestured to it and looked at the woman.

"Any chance you can tell me what this thing says? Everything is written in ancient runes."

The woman glanced absently at the map before squinting at Darcy thoughtfully. She reached as though to grasp Darcy's face with her hands before drawing back and giving a hesitant smile.

"I believe I might be able to assist you further," She started. "But I would need access to your mind, only briefly."

Darcy thought back to a national geographic documentary she had watched once back home. The more beautiful the thing, she thought to herself, the more likely it is to harm you.

She took a slight step back and eyed the woman's hands warily.

"Umm, maybe not…" She wrung her hands uncomfortably. "I'm sure you're a really good person and all, but I think I would like to avoid any mind stuff for the moment…"

The woman lowered her hands and smiled reassuringly down at the mortal girl.

"You are young," she conceded. "But you are wise to guard something so precious. If ever you find that you can trust me, my offer remains."

Darcy worried her lip.

"Until then, I believe this may suffice." The woman reached up into her hair and pulled out a bronze pin with a symbol carved into its surface. She gestured toward Darcy then in askance and, reluctant, Darcy conceded. The woman gathered a layer of the girl's hair and drew it back from her face, fastening it at the base of her neck.

"Infused in this pin is a simple charm," she told Darcy. "So long as you wear it, it will lend you my eyes. It will allow you to read the runes and comprehend them. Should you decide you no longer need my aid, you need only remove the pin from your hair and place it into your pocket. It only works if it holds your hair from your eyes."

Darcy marveled at the map as the pin worked its magic over her. She could see the lower market, the rainbow bridge, and the gateway where Heimdall kept watch. She saw the castle, the throne room and beyond. As her eyes rolled over the map, comprehending what it said, the images rolled with the motion of her gaze, tracking the path of her look. As it rolled, she saw the Asgardian Range and at the northernmost point, Frigga's Sorrow. She sent a cursory glance above it, to the Valley of Crystals and the Sea of Despair. Pausing only slightly to take in the small dot beyond the sea that said Loki's Castle. She rolled that one over in her head for a moment but didn't dwell for long.

"This is amazing," she murmured, and the older woman hummed in response.

"And if you turn," the woman gestured for her to do so. Darcy faced the opposite direction now and watched as the map shifted to adjust the locations of everything according to the direction she faced. "So that you may stay your course, child."

Darcy nodded, still fascinated by the device attached to her wrist. She briefly touched at the pin to make sure it was secured in her hair, before looking brightly up at the woman.

"You have no idea how amazing this is. Thank you," She breathed out. "Thank you so much."

"It has been a pleasure, Lady Darcy," She said. "But now I fear I must take my leave."

"Your leave?" She felt her stomach drop once again.

"Yes, child, I have business that needs attending."

"Is there any way that I could tag along?" Darcy awkwardly requested and the woman gave her a knowing look.

"I believe you have business as well or is your friend no longer in need of your assistance?"

"No, she is," Darcy conceded in a begrudging tone. "But I—I'm not sure where to start…"

"Lady Darcy," the woman said. "Could it be that where isn't the question that you need concern yourself with? Could it be that you need only to act for the action to take place? In the millennia that I have existed on this plane, it is most often that the beginning is only talked about after the journey has begun."

Darcy frowned, not fully understanding the woman's cryptic words.

"I am afraid I will be late if I remain here any longer," she said not unkindly to the mortal girl. "This is not the last time we will meet during your ventures, child. Take heart. You will need your wits and your spirit about you when you enter the wilds."

She turned to leave then, pausing only when Darcy gave a panicked shout.

"How?" she pleaded. "How do I do that? Keep my wits about me. How will I find you? I don't even know you're name."

"You will know how when you are ready," The woman said simply, and Darcy felt her eyes roll up in her head, chest hot with aggravation.

"We will find each other again when the fates allow. As for my name, you may refer to me as the Witch of Fensalir," the woman continued. "Or the Blue Lady of Vanaheim. All who hear such names will know and treat you as friend."

When Darcy blinked, the woman was gone.


Darcy had once told Thor that she could see the shift in them when disaster struck, could see their eyes shutter, and the weight of their responsibilities settle on their shoulders. Now, in her absence, Thor could hear her voice in his ear. It was as though she was somewhere close but just out of reach.

When Jarvis sounded the alarm, he heard her then. He heard her voice as he watched Steve Rogers put down his sketchpad, stand from his chair, and settle into Captain America like he was settling into an impenetrable second skin. He watched the man become the hardened supersoldier and fearsome leader of the World's Mightiest Heroes. He heard her voice when Sergeant Barnes's vibranium arm shifted and whirred, his eyes flat and calculating. Heard her still, when Natasha unfolded her body from the loveseat in the corner and locked her steel cable limbs in careful anticipation – a living weapon waiting to be unleashed. But when his hammer met his palm, and his armor traveled by lightning down his body, Thor did not hear Darcy. When his eyes shuttered and the weight of his responsibilities settled on his shoulders, Thor saw Jane. Heard Jane. Felt her absence like a hole in his gut.

The Captain had sent the Black Widow and Sergeant Barnes on a contingency investigation, exploring the possibilities of Hydra involvement. Stark had ordered Jarvis to investigate Hammer Industries and their recent activities while he and Banner continued to study the machine that both women had been working with in the events leading up to their disappearance.

Hawkeye and the Falcon were huddled together in the corner of the room, pouring over Darcy's file folders and Jane's journals, trying to find anything that might help Stark and Banner.

Somehow, Thor had found himself idle. It unsettled him. His mind was on his chosen family and he itched at his own inaction. Body taut and ready for a battle that he could not see, Thor had a sneaking suspicion. He watched the team work to solve the disappearance of his lightning sister and his future queen and felt his suspicion grow into an angry itch. He felt the energy collect in his hands, and he felt Mjolnir grow warm to the touch. And when the hammer shook in anticipation, he decided he would sit idle no more.

Thor did not say a word when he strode out of the room, though every member of the team stopped what they were doing and watched when he did.

Captain Rogers called out to him in pursuit, but Thor neither delayed nor altered his course. The leader of the Avengers caught up to him and kept pace. They made their way, lockstep, to the landing pad.

"We'll find them, Thor."

Captain Rogers's voice was determined, the lines of his jaw set tight. His eyes were hard. None on the team took a security breach lightly. But Captain America…Captain America prided himself in his duty. He had a duty to those under his protection. And when someone under his charge was placed in harm's way, he took it personally. Thor knew because he was of the same mind and manner. He and the good Captain were cut from the same indomitable cloth.

The doors slid open to clear their path and Thor made his way to the middle of the helipad. He turned then and looked at the Captain who had stopped at the edge of the platform.

"Aye," Thor said gravely. "We will."

They shared a look, darkly. Then, Thor spun his hammer. Lightning rained down on the tower and he shot into the air, calling on Heimdall to open the Bifrost and bring him home.

In the span of mere seconds, Captain America watched as Thor and his lightning were consumed by a beam of rainbow light and a deafening roar that shook the foundations of the building. Before he could blink, the light had gone, and once more silence was all that remained.

The sensation it left was an odd one, though he had experienced Thor depart by way of the Bifrost before. Still, seeing it again…something scratched at the back of his mind as the building stilled and the atmospheric energy recalibrated and settled. He brought his hand up to his face and held it there tiredly before pulling himself to his full height once more. This building had shaken quite a bit today. He shook his head and turned back the way he came. His gut said to follow Thor's lead.

Descending back into the labs, the rest of the team had continued working uneasily after the departure of the thunder god. None liked to be left in ignorance and the picture that was being painted for them had only gotten more confusing as they delved deeper into the material evidence that they did have.

"Any luck with the machine, Tony?" Steve asked as he walked over to the remaining scientists. Stark muttered something back at him but none of it was a fully formed response.

Banner piped up then and told him that the machine was finicky and seemed largely prone to malfunctioning. They couldn't determine its purpose, but it was temperamental and could have played a major role.

What he was too afraid to voice aloud, Steve inferred, was that it was possible there was no malicious third party actor at all. If the machine was as dangerous as they thought it could be, it was quite possible their friends had been vaporized.

His lips formed a hard line at the thought and Steve nodded his thanks to Banner. He adeptly studied the tense line of Tony's shoulders and the way his Adam's apple bobbed at the silent conversation between the other two men. Exhaling deeply through his nose, Captain America moved on to Barton and Wilson.

"Find anything?"

"Tons," Wilson said sarcastically. "But nothing on that thing over there."

"Foster has a diagram for just about every machine in here, but we can't find a single sketch on this one," Barton interjected.

"Her notes are erratic as hell," Wilson said. "She doesn't have a single fully formed thought on the page. Some of this shit is just lines and symbols. And it's not a formula; we checked with Banner. She developed her own shorthand."

The looks both men shot him said they were less than thrilled with the task they'd been handed.

The Captain nodded in understanding.

"You see anything in there about an Einstein-Rosen Bridge?"

Behind him, Banner and Stark fell still, and he could feel their eyes burning holes into the back of his head. But the two men in front of him only groaned and wiped their faces before pinning him with the most exasperated looks he'd ever received.

"Of course there is," Wilson said. "It's all she talks about." He shoved a handful of open papers at him and pointed to every reference of the Einstein-Rosen Bridge that wasn't written in her shorthand. "That thing is everywhere."

But the two scientists at his back were quiet, and still, and staring intently. Poised for something that was hanging in the air around them.

"What about anything that suggests summoning it. An Einstein-Rosen Bridge key or tracker, or maybe a signal of some sort…" He trailed off as he scanned the papers in his hands. Barton and Wilson tore through the journals then, glad to finally have a direction to run in even if it was only with their eyes. In the back of his mind, Captain America registered that this was the longest continuous moment of silence Tony Stark had ever taken in the time that he'd known him.

Barton made a noise of success that called everyone's attention to him. "Simulator!" He shouted and held up a folded piece of paper that had been shoved in the back of a manila envelope. "The Einstein-Rosen Bridge Simulator! ERBSimulator for short."

Like a light, Tony and Bruce shot forward then. They snatched up the journals and carted them away from the other Avengers. They shouted back and forth at each other. Voices raised in a panicked sort of anticipation. They stuttered and stumbled and gestured about ramifications and probabilities. They pointed at diagrams and symbols. Studied formulas. And at moments fell silent too - just staring at each other in a state of exhilarated shock. Tony repeatedly muttered about the ramifications. The consequences of the idea they were entertaining, the suggestion of it. Bruce shook his. It was absurd. They were a flurry of motion, punctuated by brief moments of contemplative, disbelieving stillness. The two men gave the temperamental machine a wide berth though they were prone to staring at it in wonder at random moments while they worked. Tony called Jarvis off Hammer Tech and told Rogers to call his spies back to the tower.

Captain America, Hawkeye, and the Falcon all stood there and watched the two geniuses work themselves into a frenzy. The soldiers of the team unable to fully comprehend the levels of excitement they were seeing. Sure, they had a lead, and they were glad for it. But they were still lacking in resources and a plan. They hadn't found the missing women.

But as the rest of the team walked through the doors once again, Jarvis began running off an analysis of Jane's shorthand to Tony. Bruce used another device to create an energy stabilizing bubble around the machine. Steve remembered the video feed that was cut off by a blinding light. He remembered the ringing silence that was left in the empty room when the feed continued after the event. He thought of Thor's departure and the missing women. And the layers of secrecy Jane had built into her lab to protect her work from even her lover and her friends.

The dossier he had read on the woman when she first arrived at the tower flipped open in his mind. Her threat level had been as high as Tony's, though she possessed no suit or material wealth. Jane Foster was not a fighter, and though he never dismissed her intelligence, he also had never understood the whispers around her name.

But now, watching Tony and Bruce try desperately to keep up with her mind, Steve was struck with startling clarity.

Jane Foster had done it. She had achieved the impossible. And they needed to find her before someone else did.