All characters, places, and events you recognize belong to Marvel, Disney, etc.
Thanks to those who have read and reviewed, favorited and followed! I've had this story in my head for a long time, and it's so much fun to see others enjoying it too. It is all plotted out, so unless the world comes crashing down, I will finish.
Special thanks to my beta, dristi5683, and to her sister. Your suggestions and comments were so helpful!
Day 123
Puente Antiguo, New Mexico
He always forgot how harsh the sun felt, how flat, brown, and scrubby the landscape was at this portal. Loki shielded his eyes and scanned his surroundings.
The immediate area looked abandoned. Good. Disposing of mortal witnesses was a complication he didn't need. A few pieces of torn plastic sheeting were the only evidence left of the fuss the mortals had made over Mjolnir. That, and the hammer's crater still in the sandy soil.
Loki eyed the gouge in the ground. Bitter humiliation lingered in the back of his throat. He would have preferred not to visit this particular site, but it took less energy to traverse previously traveled paths. And he still needed to conserve his energy.
Loki slowly turned in a circle, eyes closed, tasting the air. It had to be close by. There. He stopped abruptly, his leather surcoat swinging around his legs. Loki drew in a deeper breath and savored the familiar tang of the Bifrost's magic. The woman would be in that direction. He lowered his head and narrowed his eyes. A slow grin sliced across his pale face.
Time to pay her that visit I promised.
oooOOOooo
Matt Lauer droned on from the television mounted under the kitchenette cabinet. The coffee was weak. White, sticky chunks slid out of the milk carton. Dirty mugs crowded the counter. Her scalp itched.
Jane shrugged. Whatever.
She turned and lifted her gaze across her lab, looking for a table laden with gadgets and gizmos. Jane saw only vaguely sinister shapes. The blackout blinds did their job covering the too-many windows of the converted service station. But Jane knew the table was there. She should at least turn the machines on, send some sort of report. SHIELD must expect something in return for the large deposit in her bank account. Jane swallowed hard. Maybe tomorrow.
The shock of a text notification sent an unpleasant jolt across her heart. Gritting her teeth, Jane tried to swipe her phone's screen and missed. She blinked her eyes and tried again. Erik.
Erik S.: Have you looked at the data set I sent you?
Jane set the phone down on the countertop, message unanswered. An uncomfortable pressure built in her abdomen. No, please! Not another one...breathe, Jane...two, three, four…
Rrrrrrroooooowwwwww.
Jane smiled, if only a tiny, twisted smile. Oh. Her body just wanted food. It did strange things like that—demanded to be fed, forced her to inhale. She rummaged around in the cabinet and found some stale saltines. These would do. She stuck one in her mouth and chewed.
The phone lit up and vibrated again.
Erik S.: Jane, answer my message. Or I'll call the sheriff's office and ask for a safety check on you. Again.
Jane reached for her coffee mug and took a swig to fortify herself. Ugh! Jane spit the foul liquid all over the counter and rushed to the sink. She turned on the tap and stuck her face under it, letting the lukewarm water wash the rotten milk away. When she was satisfied that the taste in her mouth was no worse than it already had been, she straightened up and wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her flannel shirt. Ugh again. Maybe I could find a clean—well, clean-er—shirt today.
Buzzzzzz.
Erik S.: Jane, I'm calling the sheriff in 60 seconds unless you respond.
All right already. So impatient. She sighed and reached for her phone, wiping off the drops of coffee on her jeans. Jane walked a couple of steps to the couch, which she had pushed close to the kitchen and bathroom. She flopped down and arranged her pillows behind her head.
Me: im here
She pushed "send" and waited. Erik replied within seconds.
Erik S.: Can I call you?
Jane tested that idea.
Me: no, but okay 2 write
Erik S.: Okay. Did you get the data set I sent?
Me: havent checked email in 3 days
Erik S.: I sent it a week ago.
Me: sue me
Erik S.: You're going to want to see that data.
Me: no im not
Erik S.: I really need your help. Please?
Jane closed her eyes and drew in a shaky breath. She waited a beat, then heaved herself off the couch. Ann Curry murmured behind her in her soothing, solemn voice. Jane shoved her phone in her back pocket and shuffled slowly away from the dim glow of the television into the darkness.
Ow! She rubbed her throbbing hip, scowled, and cursed under her breath. Why had she let Darcy rearrange the furniture? Oh, right, "so the environment wouldn't remind her of that day." Sure. Yeah, that worked. Jane took a tentative step and bumped into another obstacle. Maybe just open one blind.
She backtracked cautiously to the kitchenette, then pulled open the blind covering the closest window. Sunlight flooded the room. Jane yelped and pulled the blind back to half-open. Better. Now there was just a vague wash of light through the room. Jane squinted and pressed her thumb and index fingers to the bridge of her nose. The dark shapes on the other side of the room seemed to move, to shimmer as her eyes reacted to being shocked.
A layer of dust blanketed her equipment. Using her shirtsleeve, Jane wiped off her laptop case. She set her phone on the table and pulled up a nearby chair. While her laptop was booting up, Jane scanned her other machines. They all sat silently, no lights blinking or indicators buzzing. They hadn't recorded any anomalies, catalogued any disturbances, analyzed any events. Not since...ding. That must be the email from Erik.
Ding ding ding ding ding dingdingdingdingdingdingding...Jane watched with rounded eyes as hundreds of emails filled her inbox. Most of them were requests for interviews or job offers. All related to that day. Jane narrowed her eyes. No one had wanted to listen to her before. And now that she didn't want to talk...
Jane didn't bother wading through the messages. She searched for Erik's name and selected the most recent email from him, then opened the attachment. Columns of numbers popped up on her screen. They looked to be dates, times, and some sort of value. It meant nothing to her.
Buzzzzzz.
She glanced at her phone.
Erik S.: Did you see?
Jane cursed again. Erik wouldn't let this go. She tapped the phone icon. It rang once, then she heard a rapid beeping tone. Huh.
Buzzzzzz.
Erik S.: I'll call you.
Jane frowned, but then shrugged. A few seconds later, her phone lit up and sounded its cheerful melody. "Unknown caller. Number blocked."
"Hello, Erik?"
Hissing filled the background, then a click.
"Jane! It's really you!"
"Yeah, Erik, it's, uh, good to hear your voice."
Again a moment's pause, then a click.
"Hey, that was almost believable, Jane! Thanks for the effort."
Jane rolled her eyes and stayed silent.
"So did you look at the attachment?"
"Erik, where are you? What's that weird noise in the background?"
"I'm at the Joint Dark Energy Research Facility. I'm calling you on a secure line."
"Yeah, but where are you?"
Wait, hiss, click.
"I can't tell you that, Jane. I'm lucky they let me call you."
"My phone isn't secure. And how come you can text me, then?"
A longer pause than usual followed. Sssssssss.
"Erik?"
"Um. It's okay, Jane. There's a different protocol for text messages. And SHIELD knows it can trust you."
"SHIELD? You're working for those—SHIELD? How do they know they can trust me? Wait—are they spying on me?"
A spark of anger flared briefly. Then Jane realized she didn't care. It didn't matter.
"Erik? You know what? Never mind."
"Jane, please don't hang up. I told you I was asked to consult for SHIELD on a project. Remember? I didn't hide that from you."
Jane shook her head. "I don't remember that."
"Ah, well, you were...you know. So, Jane, have you looked at the attachment?"
"Yeah, but I didn't understand it. Erik, I don't—"
"This is the raw data from my project. I need your help analyzing it."
"Um, well, I'm kind of busy right now."
"That's great, Jane! What are you working on?"
Erik sounded genuinely happy for her. Jerk. She shut her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose with her free hand.
"Oh, I, umm, I'm working on this thing. For Culver. For the, uh, physics department."
"That's odd. I just spoke with Dr. Fernstein on Friday and he didn't mention you."
Crap.
"It's hush-hush, I guess."
The silence at the other end told her Erik wasn't buying her story. Sssssssss.
"Jane, are you taking the meds the psychiatrist prescribed? Are you sleeping?"
"Erik…"
"Look, Jane, I need you to look at the data." Erik changed the subject at the tone of her voice.
Jane switched the phone to her other hand and shifted in her seat.
"I don't understand why you need me, Erik. You're working with SHIELD. They've got to have the best minds there. I mean, they have you, don't they? And if they don't have the smartest scientists, surely they have all the equipment and data they've stolen from those scientists. You don't need me."
"I do need you, Jane. You're the only person living who has seriously researched Einstein-Rosen bridges."
Jane pulled in a shuddering breath. "What does a bridge have to do with what you're working on?"
"I need to give you a bit of background. Did you ever hear stories when you were a kid about Captain America?"
"Yeah."
"He died in a plane crash a few months before the end of World War 2."
"That's sad. So what?"
"So, I've learned more about that story. Agent Coulson said I could tell you, too."
Jane's heart beat faster. Coulson was there the day...
"Howard Stark—you know, Stark, Tony Stark, Iron Man? His dad. After the war ended, Howard Stark tried to find the wreckage of Rogers' plane. He never found that, but he did find this weird glowing blue cube on the ocean floor..."
Erik's voice faded. Coulson was there the day the Destroyer…Breathe, Jane, breathe. Steady. A roar built in her ears, her vision narrowed, and her heart raced. She forced breaths in and out, making herself feel the reality of her own body. I'm here, this is real. Breathe...breathe...Erik faded back in, but her stomach kept thumping.
"...source of unlimited energy. Isn't that amazing, Jane? Just think of what we could do with this! But we have to figure out how to stabilize it first."
"Um...what's a source of unlimited energy?"
"The Tesseract, Jane."
"And….sorry, but what's the Tesseract?"
Jane heard Erik's sigh, even through the hissing. She swallowed the excess saliva pooling in the mouth. Breathe.
"The Tesseract is the blue cube Howard Stark found on the ocean floor. Weren't you listening? I just told you all this."
"Sorry. I'm in no shape to work on this with you, Erik. I can't even hear Coul—that man's—name without freaking out. I can't handle anything alien right now."
"Jane, wait—"
But Jane had already pushed "end call" and thrown her phone on the table. Swiftly, she pivoted in the office chair and grabbed her waste can in time to empty the meager contents of her stomach. She stumbled across the room and yanked the blind back down. Sweet darkness swallowed the room. Jane turned off the television and collapsed on the couch. A sob rose in her throat.
oooOOOooo
When he was satisfied that the woman intended to stay sprawled on the couch, Loki dropped the invisibility spell, careful to reinforce the enchantment that blinded Heimdall. He clenched his fists and forced himself to breathe evenly, nostrils flaring. Loki crossed soundlessly to the darkest part of the circular room and sank gracefully to the floor. He drew his knees up and rested his forearms on them, rubbing his right palm with his left thumb. A scowl marred the otherwise smooth perfection of his features.
This was an unexpected development. Unwelcome. Irritating. Loki considered himself a patient man, to be sure, but he had been waiting centuries to exact his revenge on Thor. And now he had the perfect opportunity. He could see the terror in the mortal's eyes, hear her screams, feel her flesh tear under his hands, smell her sweet, sweet blood. His nails cut into his palms, his jaws clenched until he heard his teeth grind.
Loki tipped his head back against the rough wall and fisted his hands in his inky hair. Think, he commanded himself. What were his priorities? He could not afford to let base passions jeopardize his shaky partnership with the Mad Titan.
Jane Foster mattered nothing to Thanos. But the Tesseract did. Thanos expected him to use the Tesseract to conquer Midgard. Loki wasn't quite so arrogant as to believe that he could simply seize an Infinity Stone and wield its power barehanded. He had located the Tesseract some time ago, had projected himself to investigate, and had encouraged Dr. Selvig to take on the project. He would let the mortals play with the Tesseract, learn from their inevitable mistakes, and benefit from their possible successes. Then he would take it for Thanos. In the meantime, he would indulge a personal fantasy by slowly and painfully killing Jane Foster.
But now. Now Selvig needed Jane in order to do something Loki needed Selvig to do. In order to do something Thanos commanded Loki to do.
Loki needed Jane. How perfectly galling.
A/N: According to the MCU timeline, Steve Rogers' body wasn't found until April of 2012, just a couple of weeks before the events of Avengers. So at the time of this story, he was still believed to be dead.
