A/N: All characters, places, and events you recognize belong to Marvel, Disney, etc.
Thanks as always to dristi5683 for her patience and skilled eye in catching my mistakes.
Day 226
Puente Antiguo, New Mexico
"Do you have room for two more bags?"
Jane paused her task of cramming a suitcase into the already-full rental car. Isabel stood next to the car in her work apron, holding two bulging grocery bags. "Good morning!" Jane said, looping her hair behind her ears. "What's all this?"
"Oh, just a few things I thought you and Darcy might need to tide you over. Enchiladas, brownies, arroz con pollo, lasagna—"
"Isabel! It's too much." Jane shook her head, but her grin belied her words.
"Jane Foster!" Darcy's voice screeched through the propped-open door of the lab. "You're not turning down food, are you?"
"You can't carry this on the plane with you!" Jane hollered back.
"Take the food!"
"You spoil me rotten," she said, then accepted the bags and set them down next to the passenger door. Turning back to Isabel, Jane said, "Thank you for all that you've done for me."
Isabel flapped her hand. "No thanks necessary."
Jane stamped her feet on the ground and flipped up the collar of her wool coat. "That's not true. You pretty much saved my life, or at least my sanity. I will always be grateful for you."
"Hey, now. This new job you've got is only for a year, right? You'll be back to see me. Are you feeling okay?"
Jane shrugged. "Life is unpredictable. I don't want to leave important stuff unsaid or undone. And I'm just having a hard time warming up today."
Isabel smiled and took off her apron, laying it on the bags of food. "Then come here, sweet girl." She opened her arms and Jane stepped into a warm hug. "I'm going to miss you."
"Can I have one, too?" Darcy shamelessly begged from the doorway. Isabel chuckled and released Jane to embrace Darcy.
"How 'bout you, big guy? Want a hug?" Isabel called to Thor, who was hauling the last of Jane's suitcases out of the lab.
Thor laughed. "Oh, Isabel, you're a brave one. Aren't you afraid of a cracked rib?"
"Be gentle, okay?"
Jane couldn't help her wide smile at the sight of the Asgardian's huge arms swallowing the other woman, who soon waved her hands in mock distress. "Help me!"
The four of them stood in a circle as the morning sun tried valiantly to chase the chill out of the air. Isabel looked around at each of them. "It's going to be lonely around here."
"Well, SHIELD's paying to keep this place, so you might get new neighbors," Darcy offered.
"Eh, it won't be the same. So, Darcy, back to college?"
"Yeah," she answered sourly. "Jane's making me."
"Good for her," said Isabel. "Education is important." She eyed Thor, dressed in his Asgardian clothes today, what Jane thought of as his casual uniform. "And will you be staying on this planet, Thor?"
"I am staying on Earth for the foreseeable future. I'll be assisting Erik Selvig with his research at the SHIELD installation until I am needed elsewhere. Jane is also making me."
No one missed the pointed look he gave Jane. That had been another difficult conversation.
"I'm coming with you, Jane. You shouldn't go off alone. Especially not in your condition. And to a completely new place."
"I have to do this on my own, Thor."
"Where is this...Colorado? And what is Essrull?"
"Colorado is another state, north of here. And it's E-S-R-L, the Earth System Research Laboratory."
"What does that mean? What will you do?"
"They do a lot of things at ESRL. I'll be helping research how solar flares and other phenomena outside the Earth's atmosphere affect that atmosphere."
"You'll need help."
"You will be helping me. You'll be helping protect me—us—from being exploited by SHIELD."
"It's not right. If Erik Selvig knew that you were with child..."
"He can't know, Thor. At least not for a while. You promised me!"
"Aye. I did. And now I regret having done so. If my mother ever learns of this, I fear it will not matter how old or strong I am." He smiled a bit, trying to make light of the situation.
Jane could not return his smile. If Frigga ever learned of this, it would probably spell the end of Jane Foster.
"Well, Jane's mind is already far from us. I don't want to keep you all from getting to where you need to go. Goodbye, love you, godspeed." Another quick round of hugs and Isabel headed back to the busy diner.
Darcy pointed at Jane's suitcase. "Where's that gonna fit?"
Thor picked it up. "I'll find a place."
Jane headed back into the lab one last time. She scanned the room to make sure she hadn't left anything important. SHIELD had rented the building and bought some of her equipment, so the room looked much as it had the last nine months. "Goodbye," she whispered.
Thor cleared his throat quietly to warn her of his presence. "Are you ready, Jane Foster?"
A sudden lump in her throat made speaking difficult. She nodded, keeping her eyes wide open to avoid spilling the welling tears.
"I'm ready."
oooOOOooo
"Turn left up here," Jane said. "Is this Espejo Street? Yeah, turn here. Okay, it's the third house on the right. Blue house, tan roof."
Darcy brought the rental car to a stop behind a mid-sized blue sedan and rested her elbows on the steering wheel. "So..."
Jane looked at her. "So...yeah."
"Are you sure about this car?"
"Yeah. This guy I know here in Albuquerque checked it out for me a couple of days ago. Said it was good."
"What is it, a Camry?"
"Corolla."
"Mmmm...need to go take care of business?"
"Nah, let's just get my stuff out of this car so you don't miss your flight."
A few minutes later, the two women hugged. "I'll call you when I get to Boulder," Jane said.
"You better," answered Darcy.
oooOOOooo
Day 230
Chitauri Space: The Sanctuary
Strapped to the obsidian altar...the memory of pain...
"Your lesson was not complete the first time, runt. I do not intend to make that mistake a second time."
oooOOOooo
Colorado
"Helloooo, super fancy scientist lady!" Darcy sang.
"Hey," Jane said.
"Are you at work?"
"No, um, I went to meet the director and he agreed that I needed some time to get settled. A new project starts on February first, so I'll jump on board then. Everyone was cool, though, mostly granola-eating Colorado science geeks. And how was your first day of school?"
"Well, a couple of kids made fun of me, but the teacher sent them out in the hall."
Jane chuckled dryly.
"I'm still kind of pissed at you," Darcy said. "Even though I love you."
"I know," Jane answered. "But this is for the best. You need to finish school, to move forward. Trust me, okay?"
In truth, she already missed Darcy terribly. Sharing the gory details of her screwed-up life with Darcy had made that life more bearable. But it was time to stop burdening Darcy with information which made her vulnerable. The less she knew, the safer she was.
"I'm fine, Darce, really I am," Jane said when Darcy remained silent. "You know, I think everything's going to be fine. Getting away from SHIELD and out of Puente Antiguo was just what I needed. Lots of women are single moms with exes they'd rather forget. You helped me through the worst part. I'll always be grateful."
oooOOOooo
Day 233
Asgard
Odin sought him out this time. "Any news to report, Heimdall?"
The Watcher turned toward his king and bowed his head in greeting before turning back to his endless task. "Those rogue miners on Niflheim are up in arms again. I don't see them as any threat; pickaxes are their most technologically advanced weapon."
"I meant news about the bearer of Loki's rune mark."
Heimdall winced, glad Odin was at his back. He had hoped to avoid that question.
"I haven't seen a bond mark since last you asked." Of course, he had also painstakingly avoided Jane Foster. He knew she had changed locations, but for her own good he had not watched her closely.
"Can you see Loki?"
"No, All-Father. I have scanned the realms for him. He is well hidden." This, at least, was the full truth.
"How fares my son Thor? You can see him, can you not?"
Heimdall gave a polite smile, choosing to ignore the barbed comment. "I can see Prince Thor clearly. He is well and assisting those who are strengthening Midgard's defenses."
"And that mortal woman he cares for? Jane Foster?"
"You know her name, your Majesty?"
"It's my business to pay attention to those who influence my son."
"Of course. Jane is...also well."
oooOOOooo
Day 235
Colorado
"Hey, boss-lady!"
"Darcy! You sound perky! How's school? Got your cap and gown yet?"
"Ha, yeah, not yet. But—good news—the dean confirmed that I got credit for last semester's classes, so I'm on track to graduate this spring."
"I'm so glad to hear that."
"So, how are you? You feeling okay? How's the puking?"
"I'm fine. Fine. Everything's fine."
"Really? 'Fine, fine, fine'? This is me, chick."
How much to share? Darcy would be suspicious if she didn't tell her anything. "Okay, so I've been having headaches and I can't seem to get warm. Probably just, you know, What to Expect When You're Expecting: Alien Edition. No big deal." There. That was good.
"Any hot guys?"
Jane snorted. "I've seen a few that you might like. Me? I'm taking a break. Not really ready to jump into a relationship just yet."
"Making any friends?"
"I've only been here a week. Give me a break! Plus, I miss you and Isabel."
Darcy was silent for a moment, then, "Yeah. I miss you, too. Just say the word, Jane. I still can't believe you're so far away, all alone, while...anyway. What's your apartment like?"
"It's fine. Nothing special."
"Getting settled?"
"Yep."
"Hey—send me your address. I need to know where to find you."
"Yeah, sure."
"Where are you, anyway? The reception sucks."
"Huh. Don't know. Probably too many tall buildings around me here."
oooOOOooo
Day 239
Mojave Desert: Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility
"Good morning, Jane."
"Hey, Erik."
"Uh, can we turn on the video?"
"I'd rather not."
"I'd like to see you, make sure you're okay."
"Why? Why wouldn't I be okay?"
"Old habits die hard, remember? Are you okay?"
Jane's voice softened. "Yeah, I'm fine, Erik. I'm just having a bad hair day, you know? Let's leave the video off."
"Since when do you care about bad hair days?" He sighed. "I need your input on something."
"Yeah?"
"Remember our conversation about capturing Loki? I isolated the Tesseract's activity pattern from the day we know Loki appeared at JDEF. It's a unique pattern, different from any other records."
"Uh-huh."
"This is good news, Jane. We can, at least theoretically, set an alert for that same pattern. I haven't worked out the details yet, but it's promising. What I need from you are some of those ideas about redirecting the gravity field to stop him from transporting away."
Silence.
"Jane? Are you still there?"
"I'm here. Listen, Erik, I'm sorry you've gone to so much trouble. It's not going to work. It was a bad idea. I can't make the Tesseract do what we want it to do."
oooOOOooo
Day 240
Colorado
"He asked me out again!" Darcy sounded torn between being flattered and disgusted.
Jane chuckled. "Did you tell him about Malone, the secret agent?"
"No! Of course not! Wait—do you think I should?"
"Oh, Darcy, your love life is the stuff B-movies are made of."
"I know, right? Speaking of love lives, do the people at your new job know about...?"
"No. I'll have to tell the director at some point, obviously. But I want to wait as long as possible to tell him. Too much risk that it'll get back to SHIELD. "
"What will you do when you start to show? Your co-workers are gonna be curious."
"Yeah. I know. I have a little time yet to come up with a good story."
"And what if the baby is...not normal? What are you going to do then?"
"Geez, Darce, thanks for mentioning that. I haven't obsessed at length about that at all."
"...sorry...I know, sorry, my mouth just ran away from me. It'll be fine. You'll figure it out. We'll figure it out. I'm coming to see you at spring break."
"Darcy! Don't be ridiculous! Boulder, Colorado for spring break? Go somewhere fun and enjoy yourself. You'll have plenty of time to be bored here with me after you finish school."
"No, I don't care about partying. I want to see you. Send me that address, woman!"
oooOOOooo
Chitauri Space: The Sanctuary
"Show me who you really are, runt. Lau...fey...son. I want to see the Jotun."
"I...can't."
"You won't, you mean!"
Loki arched his back and clenched his teeth. Each torment was an individual piece of kindling. If he could just gather them all together, he could set them ablaze and turn himself to ashes. But they fell over each time, tumbling down his limbs, slamming into his back, tearing at his throat...throbbing, aching, biting, stinging.
"I want to see you, you filthy Frost Giant."
oooOOOooo
Day 243
Colorado
"Boss-lady. Just wanted to wish you luck on your first day tomorrow! Hope all the kids are nice to you."
"Thanks, Darce. You're the best. Don't know what I'd do without you."
"Are you...crying?"
"No, no, I'm not crying."
"You're crying! Jane! What's up, chick? You need me to come out there? I'm on the next plane."
"Don't be silly. I'm just...I'm just hormonal, I guess."
oooOOOooo
Day 245
Culver University, Virginia
"Erik?"
"Darcy."
"Hey, sorry, I've got a class in five. Can I call you back after?"
"Darcy, have you heard from Jane?"
"Yeah, I mean, I talked to her a couple of nights ago. Why?"
"Does she have the same phone number?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Do you know where she's been staying?"
"At her apartment. Why?"
"Do you have that address?"
"No. Why, Erik?"
"The director of ESRL called. Jane didn't show up for her first day yesterday. She didn't come in this morning. She's not answering her phone, and no one knows where her apartment is. Darcy, Jane's missing."
