Song: "The One I Love", by David Gray, "Silence" by Marshmello ft. Khalid
The sight of Stark Tower greeted the small astrophysicist; a faint pained smirk adorning her features as she found herself recalling the last time she had been asked to help Tony Stark with a project. What had started as her offering her assistance to a fellow scientist turned into her sharing the first of many kisses with the man she would eventually marry. God, she missed him. She missed waking up next to him; missed finding him in the kitchen making breakfast; missed being able to hold him whenever she wanted.
Tears, as usual, threatened to fall as her mind tried its best to not think about Loki only to remind her of the morning he pulled her out of bed just to show off the snow storm that was happening outside of their small home in Tromso. He had been in the middle of finding something to eat when the sight of the white snowflakes slowly falling toward the ground pulled him away from his food search from what he told her. As soon as he had been able to recognize the snow, she remembered how he told her that he ran up the stairs in excitement and had tripped twice on the way up before he reached their bedroom. While the memory, like the thousands of others, was incredibly painful to think about, she could not help smiling at how he held her close to him and softly, 'ooh'd' and 'aah'd' as the storm increased.
Taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself, Jane gripped tightly onto the handle of her suitcase as she made her way to the sliding doors that marked the entrance to Stark Tower. While she did not know who she was going to run into, she suspected one of the first people would be Thor as the God of Thunder had been adamant that she came to New York City. The thought of running into the man who was not only an ex, but her brother-in-law and friend made her nervous, in all honesty. While, on one hand, she knew talking to him would give her the chance to find out what had happened months ago, Jane was scared of the answers. She was scared of the idea that the most extreme thought of Loki and his family wanting nothing to do with her was true.
"Jane..," a deep voice called out to her; its familiarity causing her head to quickly turn in the direction of the sound. Before she was able to properly acknowledge the owner of the familiar voice, strong, warm arms wrapped themselves around her waist and pulled her close.
"It's been too long," the voice added; relief that Jane had listened to Darcy's instructions about coming to New York causing the owner to sigh softly. "I'm so glad you were able to come here."
The rush of familarity mixed with the pain of not knowing what had happened; the pain only increasing as she found herself face to face with the God of Thunder. Needing to create distance between the two of them so she could properly assess the situation, Jane slowly backed away from Thor's embrace. "Where have you been?! You - Loki -" she shook her head as the tears that had threatened to fall earlier spilled down her face freely; the months of anger and confusion replaying themselves in her thoughts as she looked angrily up at the blue eyes that she had once looked up into with adoration. "Nothing, Thor. Complete radio silence. Not even a note to let me know what was going on. I waited.." she shook her head as she drew a hand up to wipe away at the tears trailing down her cheeks.
"Jane, I promise I will explain everything, but let's get you inside so you can meet everyone else. Then once you've got settled, we can talk. Please," Thor murmured; the pain radiating from Jane making his heart ache, but he knew that with her nearby, the two of them would be able to tackle the problem together.
Swallowing soflty as she tried to decide on the best choice from what Thor had said, she still knew he would do his best to help her understand what had happened. The other option was for her to turn around and return to her one bedroom flat in London; the silence in the rented space one that she had grown increasingly weary of as she had grown accustomed to her life with Loki. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Jane knew she was better off staying in New York and figuring things out with Thor. "All right."
"Good," a faint smile adorned his lips as he reached for the handle of her black suitcase before moving to stand next to her as he offered her his right arm. "You look well, by the way. I hope the pregnancy hasn't been too much for you."
Unable to resist letting out an amused chuckle at the stark difference between her solitiary life versus being welcomed by Thor, Jane hooked an arm around the blonde's. "You don't have to lie, Thor. I know I look terrible. After - everything that happened, I've only now been able to have a solid month of getting myself back to normal. But, I have to do my best for the baby. He or she shouldn't have to deal with a stressed out mom, after all." A hand reached down to smooth over the slight bump; the miracle that was childbirth still putting the astrophysicist in awe.
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"Jane, this is Steve Rogers; Natasha Romanov; Bruce Banner - the others say that you know them," Thor said while eyeing the tall dark skinned man with the eyepatch standing next to the owner of this building.
"Indeed, Thor. Jane has worked with Stark and I in the past years. I'm assuming you already know why you're here, Jane?," Nick Fury's baritone voice echoed throughout the large room decorated with an equally large table and a handful of chairs.
"Actually, no. My intern called me hours ago to tell me to come here; that Thor wanted me here. I've heard of Dr. Banner from other colleagues in the science community," the sight of the dark haired man offering her a slight smile and nod in acknowledgement greeted her before she continued on, "Everyone else, no. So, am I finally going to know the reason why I'm here?"
"Jane..," Thor murmured; his right hand coming to rest on her lower back as he eyed the dark skinned director. "it's Loki. He's here; on Midgard, but he's not himself. There's something - wrong with him."
Memories of the elephant sized knot of anxiety that had been a constant companion in her life in the recent past replayed itself as she looked from Thor to the others; each of them wearing an identical worried expression. Why was Loki here? Why hadn't he come to see her? "Where is he, Thor?"
"He and Dr. Erik Selvig have gone into hiding," the tall, voluptous redhead answered; her piercing eyes focusing intently on Jane as she continued. "Agent Barton is also among the people your husband has taken. We've got eyes looking out for any sign of movement, but the last time he and the others were seen was at a S.H.I.E.L.D compound. He needs to be stopped, Dr. Odinson. Given that you are his wife, it only makes sense to have you nearby in case you can talk some sense into him."
"Why Erik? I don't understand why he would go into hiding. Thor -," she turned to face the God of Thunder properly; worry and confusion radiating off her as she looked up at the blonde. "we both know Loki and he would never do something like this. Sure, he liked to be mischievous, but he never went this far. None of this is making any sense."
"I know it doesn't, Jane, but it's happened. The night he came to help with the invasion, there was this massive being who somehow convinced Loki to go with him. Since that day, we've all been looking for him and it's only been since last we-"
"Wait! What? An invasion? When the hell was there an invasion?," Jane exclaimed loudly; her eyelids widening in horror.
"The invasion in Asgard, Jane. Fandral came here to get Loki because I needed hel- wait, why are you asking me about that? Were you not informed about it?"
"Informed? No! I've been in the dark for the past couple of months, Thor. No one has come to tell me shit. This - right now," her left hand gestured between the two of them as she spoke, "this is the first time I've heard from you or anyone. I woke up and he was gone. No note, nothing. Then when I went to ask Heimdall to send me to Asgard to see if any of you had seen Loki, nothing happened. Two months, Thor, of zero communication. So you will have to excuse me if I don't know what the hell you're talking about."
"Wow. I like her."
"Ignore him," Thor muttered while glaring at the smiling billionaire. The last thing he needed was for the metal man to act like a fool.
"Ah, ah. Hold up, Point Break. You owe her an explanation. I know if anything happened to Pepper, I'd lose my remaining marbles. Plus, having Jane on our side will only work if she isn't left in the dark. Just saying. But, seriously - you are one hell of a force of nature, sweetheart."
Jane's lips quirked slightly in amusement as she nodded in appreciation at Tony before looking back at the God of Thunder. "He's got a point. I need to know what I'm getting myself into before we find Loki."
Taking a deep breath in an attempt to collect his thoughts, Thor let out a grunt in acknowledgement before proceeding to speak. "Well, I am still not certain who the invader was, but after I was done getting everyone to the Bi-Frost, when I turned around, I saw Loki standing with the individual. At first I thought he was going to harm Loki, but he didn't. I called out to him, but he seemed to not listen to me so I went after him because I knew he would want to get back to you. When I reached the two of them, Loki - he made me promise to protect you, Jane. Then, before I knew it, the two of them left. After that, we all left for Vanaheim." He sighed softly; the memory of his younger brother's pained expression presenting itself in his mind. He hadn't been able to protect Loki from the menacing invader. "Then, last week - Heimdall told us that Loki had been located here on Midgard so, naturally, I came as soon as I could. When I arrived, he was being transported in an aircraft of some sort -" an annoyed snort echoed throughout the room; Thor's gaze wandering over to the sight of Tony shaking his head before moving back to Jane. "- I had been able to capture him for a time, but - Jane, he looked terrible: emaciated, sickly; as if he was only a breath away from death. He got away when there was a misunderstanding between myself and the others. We have to get him back, Jane. That's why I had Darcy contact you and have you come here. I know you'll be able to talk to him."
As she had listened to Thor reveal what had happened, the imagery that his words created made her heart feel as though it was going to break into millions of pieces. The very idea that Loki had gone with this mysterious individual did not match with the man she knew and loved. If anything, she would've expected him to hear that he had transported to safety with the others, but instead she was left wondering what had transpired between he and the invader. The familiar sting of tears threatening to spill pulled Jane from her train of thought; her head jerking as she nodded. "You're right, Thor. We have to get him back and I will do everything in my power to help you. Now it all makes sense as to why I wasn't able to get a hold of Heimdall, then. I'm guessing the invasion was happening at the same time I was asking him to open the Bi-Frost. But, I don't understand why I haven't heard from you or anyone else. I mean, I've been going crazy wondering what's been going on."
"We've been all really busy trying to get settled in Vanaheim. There's even been talks of us coming to Norway as Father is desiring a change of scenery. Still, I do apologize for not communicating with you, Jane. I've put you through this in the past, I know, and all I can do at this point is accept that it was wrong of me to not tell you. But, as you saw before, I really did think-"
"Hold on, you two," Natasha interrupted the conversation as her left hand reached for the black earpiece that rested along her head. "Sir, he's been spotted in Stuttgart."
(Next chapter will be in Loki's POV. Thanks for the reviews! :) )
