Chapter Nineteen: Dancing in the Rain

Darkness, utter and complete darkness. It was a power that she didn't want, crawling under her skin like a thousand tiny insects. Emma was scared, she wasn't sure where she was or when she was. She could see nothing in the darkness and all she heard was the sound of her frightened breathing. Her heart pounded in her ears and then came the sound of an echoing laugh, growing louder with each passing moment.

"I can sense you and the power you hold, little one," a voice spoke to her.

It was cold and calculating, the voice. It sounded evil. All Emma wanted to do was wake up. Come on, Emma, wake up.

"I will find you."

Emma woke up back in the factory with Jane hovering over her and calling her name. She blinked rapidly at the scientist in confusion.

"Are you okay?" Jane asked, her eyes wide and her face as pale as snow. "You were out for hours. I'm not sure how long we were in there."

"What happened?" Emma asked.

"I'm not sure what that was but you were out for a very long time and I thought for sure that you were going to. . . you pushed me out of the way," Jane said and hugged her gratefully.

Jane helped her up and they rushed out of the factory to find Darcy. They had been gone long enough for Darcy to call the police. Jane flipped out, worried that more SHIELD agents would come and take something else away from.

"We had a stable gratification anomaly, we had unheeded access. Our only competition was ten years old!" Jane exclaimed.

"Jane, you and Emma were gone for five hours!" Darcy yelled at her.

"Five hours! Are you sure?" Emma asked. "It certainly didn't feel that long."

"You don't look so good, Em," the other young woman said, noticing Emma's pale expression.

Briefly ignoring her, Emma looked at her phone to see several missed calls from Natasha and Steve. An incoming call from her grandfather appeared on her phone and she answered it just as it began to rain, Thor appearing a few distances away.

"Hey, Pops," Emma answered casually.

"Where have you been? Are you okay?" Steve asked. "When you didn't answer our calls and your signal disappeared we were worried something had happened to you."

"We were extremely worried. When we call you, you pick up the phone, young lady," Natasha's voice spoke.

Emma smiled softly. They sounded much like concerned parents and she knew that Natasha was only half serious, hiding her true fear with humor.

"Something did happen and I'm not sure how to explain it but Thor's here," she said as she watched as Jane slapped Thor. "And Jane just slapped him. I've got to go. I'll explain when I know what's going on. Love you guys."

She suddenly noticed the barrier that was around her and Darcy, protecting them from the rain. It was extremely odd. Emma started heading towards the Asgardian, the barrier going with her as they rain began following on Darcy. The young super soldier and pulled Darcy with her, she smiled gratefully at her.

"You're my best friend," Darcy said.

They walked up to Jane and Thor just as Thor was about to kiss her and Emma winced at them, feeling guilty for interrupting.

"We were in the middle of something," Jane told them.

"I'm pretty sure we're getting arrested," Darcy replied.

"Hello, little one," Thor greeted Emma.

She was reminded of the voice in the darkness but the difference was that Thor's voice was kinder. Emma grinned and was about to respond to him when Jane ran off to talk with the cops. She followed to interfere when she saw one of them try to reach for Jane's arm. Luckily Emma had her ID on her.

"Excuse me, officer, I'm afraid I'm going to ask you to let her go," she said, showing her badge. "Agent Carter, this is SHIELD business."

"You are an agent?" the cop looked at her in disbelief. "Even if I believed that, you are still trespassing on private property."

It hadn't been the first time that Emma had gotten treated like that due to her small stature and baby face. It still didn't make it right. Emma opened her mouth to tell him about her direct line to the director when he went to grab her arm. Suddenly a powerful force burst from within her, pushing the officer and everyone else away. Emma collapsed on the ground and Thor rushed to her side. What just happened?

The police surrounded her and pointed their weapons at her. They tried to get her to surrender but Thor wasn't about to let that happen. He pulled Emma and close, ensuring that they held onto him tightly. The bifrost opened for Thor and he took the two women with him to Asgard. Emma really should have left a message for Steve and Natasha but everything had happened so fast. Oh, well.