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Day 175

Chitauri Space: The Sanctuary

Whiskey eyes…

Loki cradled his aching head. The scent of vanilla surrounded him—perhaps his sanity was slipping away. He gritted his teeth and willed this madness to resolve into something he could grasp. If he could see the end, he could be patient. Infinitely patient. This, though, felt like falling again, those endless moments when he was nothing and didn't know if he would ever be anything again.

A portal of some sort had opened long enough for him to see Jane Foster staring up, arm raised defensively. Then she had been shoved out of the way and the opening had closed. It had almost certainly been his not-brother who had collided with Jane. The silver and red gaudiness was hard to miss. He had gotten their attention; Odin had found a way to send Thor to Midgard.

Was Thanos testing him? Was this a continuation of the "training" he'd endured? While his head felt like it would split open, this wasn't about physical pain. He had a brilliant plan, a perfect chess strategy, but someone had moved the pieces while he wasn't looking.

Because he didn't know why Jane's gaze matched the beautiful eyes in his dreams. And he didn't understand how it was possible that Jane bore his rune brand on her wrist. And he couldn't explain why the sight of Thor with that troublesome mortal—proof that his machinations had worked—made him feel not triumphant, but sickeningly jealous.

oooOOOooo

Mojave Desert: Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility

"So much for acting halfway normal, huh?" Jane slouched in the office chair, arms crossed defensively over her abdomen.

Darcy sighed. "It could have been worse." She kicked her shoes off and flopped on Jane's bed. "I'm not sure how, but it could have been worse."

Silence reigned for an uncharacteristically long while as both women were lost in their own thoughts.

"After you left the lab, Erik and Malone pulled me into a sidebar. Malone was freaked out that you're a super security risk. Thor and Erik stood up for you. And me, too, duh."

"What did they say?"

"Um, Thor was all, 'Jane Foster has worked tirelessly in defense of this realm, blah, blah, blah.' You know, all Shakespeare-y. And Erik was like, 'Hey, the Tesseract digs Jane. Jane loves space travel. The Tesseract was prob'ly just trying to make her happy.' And I said to Malone, 'Dude, your security sucks. Focus on that.' Then I winked at him so he would know I still think he's totally hot."

"So I'm not going to prison?"

"Nah. You just have to take some time off. They're going to send you back to Puente Antiguo tomorrow."

Jane snorted. "Not a problem. I want to get out of this place and never come back."

Darcy sighed again. "Yeah, about that. SHIELD's not ready to completely let you go yet. They'll grant you some leave for medical reasons, but you'll have to come back."

Jane muttered an indistinguishable oath.

The younger woman sat up. "Look, Jane..."

"What?"

"There's something else. SHIELD wants me to go back to Puente Antiguo with you—"

"Great!"

"—to spy on you."

This time the expletive was clearly enunciated.

oooOOOooo

Day 176

Mojave Desert: Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility

A knock at the door startled Jane and made her tender stomach jump unpleasantly.

She called, "G'way. My flight's not till one."

The unwelcome visitor knocked again, this time in the rhythm of "shave and a haircut…" Jane rolled her eyes and slowly trudged to the door. Darcy slipped in, her hands full.

"Good morning, Jane. First off, here you go." She handed Jane a can of ginger ale.

"I don't need—"

"Save it, sister. Take slow sips."

Jane made a face at her, but complied. She sat in a chair and watched Darcy carefully place two vacutainer tubes on the table. "What are those?"

Darcy sighed—she'd been doing that a lot lately, Jane noted—and sat down in the other chair. "There's something I didn't tell you yesterday."

"What?"

"You have to have a medical exam this morning before we can leave."

Jane's heart accelerated painfully as a wash of terror grabbed her chest. "No, I can't—the mark—what do I do?"

The younger woman reached across the small table and touched her hand. "Hey. Look at me. I got this. I got you. I didn't tell you earlier because I didn't want you freaking out all night."

"I'm not freaking out!"

Darcy simply raised one eyebrow.

Jane closed her eyes for a beat. "Okay. What are we going to do? And what about you?"

"Don't worry about me. I already passed with flying colors yesterday evening. Think you still remember the stuff your ex taught you?"

"Yeah…"

oooOOOooo

"All right, Dr. Foster, your radiation scan was fine. I'll send these blood and urine samples for testing. If anything comes up, we'll contact you."

Jane nodded. "Thank you."

"Yes, thank you, Dr. Silverman. You're the best!" Darcy hugged the very short young man and whispered, "Thanks for letting me help. I won't tell if you won't tell."

Blushing, Dr. Silverman ducked his head. Jane thought it was a wonder he wasn't smothered by Darcy's, um, ample assets. "Anything to encourage interest in health care. If you need me to fill out one of those references for medical school, just let me know."

After a round of goodbyes, the two women headed to Jane's quarters. Jane glanced at Darcy. "Medical school? What in—"

Darcy cheerily cut her off, "Sure we can go shopping when we get back to Puente Antiguo! We might still get some Black Friday deals. Can't wait!"

Jane opened her mouth, then stopped when she caught Darcy's glare. Safely in Jane's room, Darcy sighed again. "We're almost out of here. Don't blow it now."

Jane meekly nodded. "I'm sorry. Thank you. I had no idea how I was going to pass the medical."

"I realized it was going to be a problem as soon as you showed me your scar."

Jane started toward the bathroom, then stopped and turned toward Darcy. "That's where you've been going after lunch. To the medical bay, to butter up the doctors."

Darcy grinned. "Yeah, but it was a pure stroke of luck that Dr. Silverman was promoted to chief medical officer this week. Dr. Brown wasn't nearly as impressionable. I told Silverman I'm considering pre-med and asked if he'd teach me some stuff. I practiced drawing blood on him a couple of days ago, so he was willing to let me try it on you. Since you and I have the same blood type, it'll take quite a bit of investigation before anyone figures anything out."

Jane continued into the bathroom and began putting her hair and makeup products into a bag. "Darcy, I don't care what any of your profs say. You're a genius."

"Hey, watch it, Foster!" She leaned against the doorframe.

"By the way, what did you do with my blood and other bodily fluids? I knew the plan, and I still couldn't follow the switch. Been practicing magic tricks?"

"I got the vials here, don't worry. I'll give them to you—"

A knock at the door cut her off. She peered out the peephole. "It's Thor and Erik. Should I?"

At Jane's nod, Darcy swung the door open and smiled. Jane poked her head out of the bathroom and said, "What can I do for you gentlemen?"

Erik just blinked. "You seem to be in better spirits."

"I get paroled today. Why wouldn't I be happy?"

Thor cleared his throat. "We've come to bid you farewell, Jane Foster. And Darcy Lewis."

"Oh. Well, it's not goodbye forever. I've been told this is only medical leave. I have to report back to the prison eventually."

Erik shook his head. "I hoped you would adjust and realize the advantages SHIELD can offer."

"I don't want to fight with you about this, Erik. I care about you and I know you care about me. Can we leave it at that today?"

Before the older scientist had a chance to answer, another knock came at the door. Thor opened it to admit Agent Malone.

"The Quinjet is waiting. I received Dr. Silverman's report, so if you are ready, I'll escort you out."

"I'm ready!" Darcy chirped. "But my suitcase is in my room. Can you help me with that?"

Agent Malone hesitated, and Thor stepped in. "Erik Selvig and I will help Jane Foster with her bags. We will meet you at the security checkpoint."

Darcy took Agent Malone's arm, though it hadn't been offered to her, and pulled him out of the room as the other three watched in amusement.

Erik turned back to Jane. "I don't think that poor man stands a chance."

"No," Jane agreed. "Darcy is quite resourceful when she puts her mind to something."

oooOOOooo

Puente Antiguo, New Mexico

Jane unlocked the service station door. The mid-afternoon sun streamed through the windows—someone had pulled the blinds open—and illuminated a surprisingly tidy room.

"Welcome home," said a voice behind them. "Erik called and asked if I could get the place ready for you." Jane turned to see Isabel, arms laden with a casserole dish and several grocery bags.

"Isabel! It's so good to see you."

The small party filed inside the lab, depositing luggage and shedding coats. After satisfying himself that all was well and conferring with Darcy, the SHIELD agent assigned to escort them took his leave.

Darcy and Isabel were properly introduced.

"I've heard about you," said Darcy, narrowing her eyes at the older woman.

"And I've heard about you," said Isabel, unruffled.

"It's all true," said Darcy.

"I sure hope so," replied Isabel.

The women grinned at each other and Jane breathed a sigh of relief.

Isabel pointed at the dishes on the counter. "Chicken enchiladas. Reheat when you get hungry. I didn't have any keys, so the trailers haven't been cleaned. Would you like to borrow an air mattress?"

"No problem. I'm used to sleeping on the couch."

Darcy poked her. "Hello?"

"I mean, thanks. An air mattress sounds great. Once again, Isabel, you're a lifesaver."

oooOOOooo

"Do you know where you're going?"

"Isabel said there's a GPS in the car. I'll be all right."

"Okay, see you later. Have fun at the mall."

Jane watched Darcy drive away in Isabel's small tan sedan, then walked back to the old service station. She never expected to call this makeshift lab home, but Jane felt an undeniable peace and comfort being back within these ugly, industrial walls. It was nice being alone, too.

To keep the SHIELD spooks happy, Jane logged into her work computer and sent a quick "Here safely" email to Erik. Then she ran the hidden bug-detecting app. Who knows what kind of junk SHIELD had planted in her lab while she was gone? Surprisingly, no new privacy invaders showed up. Apparently SHIELD felt that Darcy's spying was sufficient.

Several minutes later, Jane emerged from the bathroom in comfy old sweats, having showered away the institutional smell. Fresh mug of coffee in hand, she settled herself at the dining table with her notebook and a well-chewed pencil. The regularity of the mark on her wrist troubled her. She could no longer pretend it was a rash or a random scar. Something—someone?—had branded her, and she intended to figure out who had done it and what it meant.

Field work had trained her to be reasonably good at sketching, and in a short time she was satisfied. Taking a long pull of her now-lukewarm coffee, Jane leaned back and studied the drawing. Huh. She had never noticed that the mark looked like one brand superimposed on another. The base bore a strong resemblance to a traditional Celtic or Eastern infinity knot, as Darcy had once mentioned. But now she could see another layer, a set of angular bent lines, in contrast to the curves of the knot. She tore two more pages from her notebook. On one, she drew the knot design, and on the other she drew the second symbol.

An uncomfortable pressure built in her abdomen.

RRrrroowww. Jane chuckled at the growling of her stomach, remembering the time she had been terrified it was the start of another panic attack. She reached for her coffee cup, intending to ignore the hunger and continue working, as was her custom. But another growl grabbed her tummy and the thought of Isabel's chicken enchiladas made her mouth water. The food at JDEF hadn't been the worst institutional food she'd eaten, but it could not compare with Isabel's expert cooking.

Jane sat at the table for a couple of minutes, torn between the allure of the mystery in front of her and the demands of her empty stomach. She squinted at the second drawing. She had seen something like this before, but where? It would only take a few minutes to search on the internet and maybe in some of her older notebooks. Sketch in hand, Jane pushed her chair back and headed for her work station. Her stomach protested again, more strongly, this time with a touch of queasiness.

"Who am I kidding?" Jane said out loud. She was sure to spend hours mining for clues. Meanwhile, she would grow hungrier and weaker and possibly even make herself sick. "It's time to put your big-girl pants on, Foster." Other people shouldn't have to take care of her as though she were a child, bringing her nourishing food and reminding her to sleep.

"Fear is not the only thing you can feel."

She froze before cautiously looking around the lab. No one was there; she was alone.

"Remember that you are a vibrant, tenacious, brilliant woman."

"Who are you?" she called out. She wasn't afraid; she never felt threatened by the voice or the memories, but she was disturbed by not understanding what was happening. "Why me?" No answer came.

A few minutes later, a plate of chicken enchiladas was warming up in the oven while she set the table for herself and Darcy. Jane poured a fresh mug of coffee, leaned her hips against the counter, and ran her fingers over her wrist. Hesitantly, Jane asked, "Are you from the Tesseract?"

It was the most logical answer. Her dreams about banishing the Destroyer began after she agreed to work on the project with Erik. The cut on her hand had healed freakishly quickly following her initial encounter with the Tesseract. Whenever she was near the artifact, it reacted strongly. And then yesterday, when she had asked the Tesseract about the mark, it had opened what appeared to be a portal. Jane didn't know if the flashing, sparking column had been an Einstein-Rosen bridge. For that matter, she wasn't sure whether it had been an actual portal at all. If Thor hadn't also witnessed the phenomenon, Jane would dismiss it as a hallucination. Because through the blue column of light, she could almost swear she had caught a glimpse of black hair and green eyes.

oooOOOooo

"You're gonna love this, girl!" Darcy swept through the door, already talking, arms laden with bags. She walked backward so she could lock the door behind her. "It's cashmere, but don't kill me, it was only—oh." Darcy turned to set her shopping bags down and saw that Jane was asleep on the couch, tucked under her comforter. The air mattress lay on the floor behind the couch, inflated and made up for her.

"I guess it can wait till tomorrow," she said quietly. She scanned the room, taking in the place set for her at the table. A note tucked under the plate read, Sorry for being a bad hostess. I'm wiped out. Feel free to reheat some enchiladas. They're amazing! See you in the morning. Jane.

Darcy stood watching the other woman sleep for a moment, then picked up one of the bags and made her way to the bathroom. With the door safely locked behind her, Darcy withdrew a small tube from her coat. From the shopping bag she pulled a rectangular box and opened it, quickly scanning the instructions. Carefully she pulled the plastic stopper from the tube and dipped the absorbent end into the tube, counting "One Mississippi, two Mississippi," until she reached five. Darcy laid the stick on the counter, covered it with a tissue to remove temptation to peek, and checked her watch.

She felt super creepy about using Jane's pee to conduct a secret pregnancy test. But something was definitely going on, and she couldn't just sit back and watch. Darcy could buy the idea that the Tesseract's radiation had branded Jane's arm. That was freaky, yet totally plausible, given everything else they'd witnessed in the last six months. However, the puking, the exhaustion, the irritability—classic symptoms of being knocked up. Jane swore she hadn't slept with anyone, but after the major trauma she'd been through, it's possible she'd blocked out the memory of some crazy night.

Darcy checked her watch, then peed and washed her hands. She looked at the time again. Ugh. How long did three minutes take?

Jane would definitely kill her. If she found out. If it was negative, then "no harm, no foul." If it was positive, then Jane needed to know, right?

Three minutes. Darcy took a deep breath and uncovered the stick. She sighed again.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers, for sure.