The bed in the infirmary is a welcome sight after the last hour. Jane doesn't even care when the agents once again strap the restraints around her wrist. Sleep is the only thing on her mind.
Her dreams are a black void, the way she prefers them. It's too painful when her mind conjures up memories of the past, especially of Thor. The raw, wounded feeling in her gut reminds her of how tangible her feelings remain. And yet, sometimes, she can still hear his voice in her ear, deep and velvety.
Be at peace, Jane Foster.
She relaxes at soothing timbre of it, anticipating the radiant heat of his body nearby. Instead, somewhere in the fog, she hears,"Miss Foster, we need you to attend a briefing in conference room."
Jane blinks and opens her eyes begrudgingly, unsure if the request is a figment of her imagination or reality. When the speaker repeats his message, she turns her head towards him with a groan.
"What?" It comes out sharper than she intended.
A SHIELD agent looks down at her, eyes narrowed. "Now, Miss Foster."
Jane sits up slowly, happy to see that her wrists have been freed. She rubs them all the same. Fresh clothing in the form of a gray SHIELD hoodie and black cargo pants are folded on the end of the bed.
"It's Dr. Foster," she corrects, without looking at the man, "and you can wait outside until I'm done dressing." She resists sticking her tongue out as the agent begrudgingly exits the room.
A few minutes later, Jane follows the SHIELD agent down the winding hallways of the helicarrier. She's looked better, but the fresh clothing already makes her feel more human.
She finds herself in the same room she was debriefed in before, only this time, Fury and Dr. Banner are already waiting for her. There's someone else too, spinning around in his swivel chair, a clear affront to the stiff formality of everyone in the room. When he turns to face her, Jane recognizes the face instantly.
Billionaire playboy Tony Stark.
In that instant, all eyes land on her. Shit. Did she just say that out loud? Jane cringes on the inside, but despite this, Stark grins.
"My sterling reputation precedes me. And you must be Dr. Foster of the Foster theory used to help in the formation and stabilization of the wormhole that brought the mass murderer Loki here."
Despite his poker-face rapid delivery, Tony goes up to her and extends his hand. "Pleased to meet the scientist who helped indirectly bring about the near end of the world."
Absorbing the flattery and scrutiny all at once, Jane bristles slightly as she shakes his hand. "Loki used your building," she retaliates. It's the best she can come up with at the moment.
"Touché," Tony answers, his charismatic smile widening.
A beat later, he hops back into a chair and regards Fury. "So what's the meeting about, o captain, my captain?"
The director ignores the jab and Jane takes a seat in the chair closest to her.
"We have a problem," Fury states. A holomonitor rises from the center of the table. A moment later, a distressed CNN news anchor appears onscreen relating the newest report on the unprecedented arctic vortex, sending the entire northern half of Alaska and Canada into record low temperatures. Following this, a second clip reveals another reporter in a parka appears relating the same story.
"As fascinating as this is," Tony interrupts, and Fury stops the playback, "you seriously made me leave a stunning white sand beach in Tahiti with Pepper-in a bikini, I might add—" he winks at Jane, making her blush, "to watch mundane news reporting on cold weather...during winter."
"The rest of America is aware of the weather situation, Mr. Stark—"
"Yeah, being the nature of the news," Tony quips.
Fury's gaze narrows on him. Jane can feel a barely-hinged wrath between the two alpha personalities. "This presents a problem," he says, his voice like ice.
Tony is unconcerned with the unspoken warning as he taps his fingers on the tabletop. "What, did some nefarious enemy of SHIELD recruit Jack Frost? The Abominable Snowman? Stop me, I could go on."
Jane can't help but crack a grin at the level of cheek Tony openly displays, but SHIELD's director takes in a measured breath and rather than snapping at the billionaire, looks at her.
"I believe Dr. Foster can lend some insight into the weather phenomena currently seen in Alaska," he says.
All eyes turn to her again. Jane swallows.
"I'm just a physicist," she defends. "I don't know why this 'arctic vortex' occurs. I just know there is a correlation with a spatial event."
Tony slaps the table. "And there you go. Just when I was hoping things were getting back to normal."
"Dr. Foster, now would be a good time to inform-" Fury looks sharply to his left, "Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner on your research thus far."
"I'm surprised you haven't done that already," Jane murmurs.
Tony leans back in the chair and folds his arms, clearly amused. He looks over at a silent agent in the corner. "You in the suit, bring popcorn and Twizzlers," he whispers loudly, "this is going to be good."
Jane doesn't even notice, her attention is focused solely on the SHIELD director again.
"Dr. Foster," Fury says, the frostiness in his tone returning, "whatever you reservations are on SHIELD methods, justified or not, we have bigger things at stake right now than your petty bitterness. We do not share your level of expertise, so please," he hand sweeps the room, "by all means, fill us in."
It's a tug-of-war in Jane's mind. She's not even sure why she's still here, nevermind why she should aid an organization that she loathes. Her life the past two years had been spent trying to forget SHIELD's awesome reach, given their power (and propensity) to dismantle the things most vital to her existence. And yet, she can't help but recognize the tight feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something is going on, something bigger than her, and she can't handle it alone. The lonely sojourn in Nome is over, whether she likes it or not.
After a tense moment, she takes in a breath, and relents. "There's a possible space time warp. I'm not sure."
"I feel better already," Tony says, deadpan.
Dr. Banner shoves his hands in his pockets. "Walk us through it," he says, speaking for the first time. He gives her an encouraging nod.
Jane smiles, her confidence growing. "It's a postulated theory that I've merely stumbled upon. I don't really know what I'm looking at. I have months—maybe years worth of work ahead of me," she pauses, unable to help the dig, "and SHIELD tends to get in the way of that."
"We don't get in the way of scientific progress," Fury corrects, "yours or anyone else's. We are concerned when that progress crosses paths with…unregulated communities."
"Interesting choice of words."
"Dr. Foster, what is the ramification of this space time warp?" Bruce presses, breaking the tension once more.
Jane shrugs. "I'd rather show you. I need a piece of paper and pen."
Old-fashioned paper seems a rare commodity on the futuristic vessel, but she is accommodated after a few minutes.
Jane draws two points on either side of the sheet. "Here's Earth," she says, tapping one of the points, "and here's somewhere else." She motions to the other mark. "Now," she says, folding the paper in half, "the space time warp works like a wrinkle in space, allowing two points that are some distance apart to suddenly connect." She holds the paper so her audience can see the touching dots. "This might be what's going on in the region of space I'm researching. But there are other anomalies happening which I need time to figure out, if I can at all."
"You're referring to the strange weather patterns accompanying your star data."
Jane nods.
"Let's get her to the lab. I'd love to crunch some numbers." Dr. Banner looks over at Tony. "You in?"
Stark stands. "Wouldn't miss it." He glances back at Fury, who has been watching the whole interaction stoically. Too quietly.
"What aren't you telling us?" Tony says, eyes narrowed.
Fury folds his arms and leans into the chair, revealing nothing.
Despite his frown, Dr. Banner puts a gentle hand on the small of Jane's back. "C'mon. I'll show you the lab. Bet you're anxious to get out of the infirmary."
Two silent SHIELD agents move to escort them, but Dr. Banner shakes his head at them. He looks at Fury plaintively.
"Is this really necessary?"
"You should know."
"Unless Dr. Foster has a concealed hammer or suit," Dr. Banner argues, "it's a long way down. Let her go where she needs to."
Stark smiles, awaiting Fury's response. "Fine," the SHIELD director acquiesces, "no more escorts. We'll just have to trust you, Dr. Foster, and I hope you learn to do the same."
Perhaps unwisely, Jane decides to press her luck. "I need to talk to Darcy. You promised." She glances over at Dr. Banner.
"Can the lab take calls?"
"No—"
Stark jumps in. "Yes." With conspiratorial wink in her direction, he adds, "once I tweak the system. A bit."
"Good,"Jane says. "You want trust, Director Fury? SHIELD owes me a phone call. After that, we work."
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A/N Life has a way of getting crazy, but I'm still around and willing to churn out this story provided the readers are still there. Let me know your thoughts-thanks!
