...
Portalling in, I greeted Jane with a grin before quickly taking off my shoes with a swift movement. My eyes taking in the living room of the new apartment.
My grin faltered at the sight of the still packed belongings- Though considering her studio had been blown to kingdom come, it was probably from her family home.
The room itself was still rather scarce, with naught but the tv and a sofa in truth filling it- Both having come with the apartment itself.
Jane blinked a few times, briefly startling as the cup in her hand for a moment looked about to spill. Quickly controlling herself she let out a sigh and calmly moved towards the sofa.
"I need to put a bell on you." She remarked shaking her head as she took a seat.
"Wouldn't help." I shrugged and promptly took the seat beside her, before turning to face her, her gaze however seemed to be stuck on the tv screen.
"Uh..." I coughed. "Am I in trouble?" I joked, somewhat seriously.
She blinked at that and promptly turned to face me. "Trouble?" Her eyes briefly narrowed. "What did you do?"
"Nothing new?"
She hummed at my answer before nodding, and calmly placed the cup on the table before her.
A table I just seemed to notice.
With a grin, I promptly placed my feet over it. Only for Jane to twitch once and kick them off.
"Bad Doctor." She deadpanned, "It's brand new, you know?"
"Uh-huh." I put them back on the table. "So, how's your day been?"
She briefly glanced towards the tv. "I should be asking you..." She remarked carefully. "Did you sort... Whatever problem you had with Fury out?"
I nodded. "Didn't have to do much, Pierce is willing to testify against his colleagues."
Her eyes briefly widened at that, as her gaze snapped towards me.
"Really?"
"Yup. All I wound up having to do was threaten him with death by star."
She blinked a few times at that.
"...I am not sure if you mean by death star, or..." She briefly paused. "I am not sure what's worse actually."
"No, no. Death by a star. I haven't built a death star, that's Tony's forte."
"...What does-"
"I told him I'd portal him to the sun if he got out of the charges."
Jane started a staring contest with me.
"That's not legal."
"Neither is trying to overthrow the world."
"..."
"What? I wasn't actually going to go through with it?"
Jane furrowed her brows as she promptly put both of her hands on my face and turned me to face her directly. "Really?"
"...Alright, I probably would've gone through with it." She let out a sigh, and let go of my face. "But in my defense, that was a lot more humane than a mind-controlling seal that forced him into admitting those charges!"
"...How?"
"His free will stays intact while hurtling to his death." I deadpanned. "You know, American patriotism and all that."
"...That's a horrible way to use that."
I shrugged.
"So, how are you holding up? You know, with the whole assassination attempt and all."
"That's not the end of that conversation..." I raised an eyebrow at her words. She let out another sigh. "Well enough though... Tony made it somewhat easier to deal with given..." She bit her lip, her gaze briefly lowering before raising back up towards me, a more resolute expression taking over. "He said you killed him. So I won't have to worry about any second attempts..."
I blinked a few times at that. Well, at least he didn't mention Wakanda's part in that... Ignorance being bliss and all.
"What?" I questioned anyway.
Her gaze promptly broke off, as a rather uncomfortable expression took over her face.
"Why?" I followed on, leaning closer.
She didn't turn to face me.
"I am sorry, I know it probably isn't my place, given you were the target and I can't really complain about the studio- But-"
"Why'd you call him Tony?" I deadpanned, causing her to blink. "I didn't know you were friends!"
Her blinking turned into bemusement.
"Also, why would he tell you? I didn't take him for the sentimental type!"
"Uh..." She opened her mouth to respond.
"I've been lied to! That sneaky bastard! I thought he was incapable of empathy!"
"Stop." She closed her eyes, her face tilting downwards as her shoulders briefly filled with tension before she opened her eyes and locked gazes with me. "Just... stop and tell me if you really did it or not?"
I nodded.
"Technically gravity killed him-"
She winced.
"-but, yes I am responsible given I kicked him down a cliff."
She opened and closed her mouth a few times at the words, before turning her gaze downwards again.
I started scratching the back of my head.
"Would you have preferred an explosion?"
"...What?"
"Well, you know, tit for tat-" What I'd been about to say was interrupted as Jane promptly put a hand over my face, her face the slightest bit pale.
"Please stop. That's not helping."
"..."
She let go of my mouth and turned back towards the tv screen, her hands pushing themselves against the sofa as her head tilted downwards.
"In my defense..." She briefly turned a wary gaze towards me at the words. "I really wanted that stone?"
"...What?" Her bemused expression turned even more confused.
"Well, you see there's this cliff that if you push someone down it you get nearly cosmic power. And-"
"...That's why you killed him?" She whispered, hoarsely as her expression turned pale. "For power? Not because he tried to kill you?"
"Does it matter?"
"Of course it does!" She snapped, standing up, her hands shaking as she stood right before me. "You're saying you sacrificed him! That's barbaric!"
"Tell me about it." I scoffed. "Didn't even get the stone."
She opened and closed her mouth before settling for silence as she promptly sat down on the table, a lost expression on her face.
"...Am I making this worse?" I questioned.
She let out a weak scoff at my words.
"...Would it help if I told you, that I hadn't initially planned to do that when I first popped into his secret hideout?"
She shook her head. "There's no good reason-"
"He put like fifteen bullets in me-"
She slapped me across the face, my gaze swiveling to the side out of surprise, before I bemusedly turned back towards her, finding an even more surprised expression on her face. The woman briefly turning to stare at her hand as she let out a gasp, before turning back to my face as anger filled her face.
I made to respond to it before quickly closing my mouth as Jane leaned towards me and started lightly hitting me on my right shoulder.
"You stupid, stupid, idiot! Lead with that next time!" She freaking sobbed. "I thought I was dating a psychopath!"
Rolling my eyes, I promptly grabbed hold of her hands.
"Ehh, you might be?" I snorted. "I did want that stone. I saw an opportunity for it and figured I'd give it a shot."
Her expression slowly turned passive at the words as she settled down, her knees leaning against the edge of the sofa as her hands went to her side.
Her hair was blocking the TV screen.
"Why?"
"Kind of a vested interest in it. Might help me get rid of the whole reincarnation curse I got going."
To my surprise, she nodded, albeit warily at that.
"Besides, sure as hell wasn't going to throw you down that cliff."
She started staring at me again.
"What? I said I wouldn't!"
She didn't stop staring, before to my surprise, her gaze promptly lowered itself towards the ground as another heavy sigh came out.
"Am I making you worse?" She questioned sadly.
"Come again?"
"...Would you have killed him, if I hadn't been-"
"Yup."
She winced the slightest at that.
"Guy opened fire on me like the Thug life depended on it- He knew what he was signing up for."
She tilted her head at me for that one.
"...I am not saying that because he's black."
"...I didn't-" She let out another long sigh. "I mean..." Frustrated, she stood up and started pacing around the room. "You've obviously had to adapt to a lot given... Well, your previous lives, and I hate to think I am causing you to revert to the war mind-"
"Hey-, hey." I promptly stood up, pausing her in her pacing as I grabbed both of her hands. "Look at me," I remarked, causing her to turn her gaze towards me. "I'd say you're keeping me grounded," I remarked. "My first couple of weeks here, I temporarily put an eldritch abomination in my head to seal it into a cow." I took a brief pause, letting her process the words as disbelief quickly filled her face. "Then I meet you, and I don't even get into a fistfight with the freakin' hulk!" I grinned. "I was prepared to drag his ass-kicking and screaming into New York! Probably get my ass kicked doing so!"
"...How does that help?"
"I don't know, but what I do know is that without you, I would've never thought Bruce Banner would listen to me without a threat over his head!"
"...You're impossible..." She remarked, shaking her head. "God's you're so impossible to make sense of sometimes..."
"...Not to be an ass, but I literally warned you about that before we started dating."
She had nothing to say that, instead the woman elected to pick up her cup of coffee and simply sit down to watch the Tv screen, albeit after patting the seat beside her for me to take.
"Cool, we're not breaking up."
"... I am not going to respond to that."
"Literally thought we were."
"I honestly don't know how someone could be so smart, and so dense at the same time."
"Hey... Leave Tony out of this." I snorted, earning a laugh out of the woman as she leaned against me.
"So. What's this about throwing me down a cliff for cosmic power?"
"Hypothetically speaking, would you prefer I do it for anything else?"
"I'd prefer you wouldn't do it at all." She took a brief pause after that, before she turned her gaze towards the side of my face, albeit still leaning her head against my shoulder. "If you really do need the stone though... What are you going to do- And no you're not allowed to throw me down there."
I shrugged.
"I am sure someone else is gonna go for it. I'll just wait for them to get it before stealing it off them."
"...That doesn't sound very nice..."
"Hypothetically speaking, if they're willing to do that to a loved one, they're probably an omnicidal maniac."
For some reason, Jane Foster seemed to startle at that, her coffee spilling a few drops over the floor as her gaze quickly turned downwards.
I shook my head in my amusement.
She probably thinks it's another Nazi.
...
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