All characters, myths and legends belong to their respective owners.
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Isabel Alvarez had lived in the town for as long as she could remember, knew everyone that lived there, most of them either old friends or people she had looked after when she was a teenager. She had been born there, gotten married and given birth to all of her children in the town.
Everyone knew everyone, always willing to help out when needed. Old families had been around for years, the younger generation either staying or leaving, but always coming back to the people they loved.
They had their fair share of people who drove true just to get other places, just stopping for a quick bite to eat or needing a place to sleep for the night. Most people never stayed very long, gone the next day, but always with a smile on their face as they left her diner.
Oh yes, her food was the best in their little town, no question about it. Everyone knew that. She loved it when people smiled as they bit into her pancakes or eggs, and their smiles only got bigger as they tasted the coffee.
That had been the usual routine for their little town for years and generations, nothing ever breaking the pattern of life. Nothing unusual ever happened in her little town in the middle of New Mexico.
Then one day Jane Foster drove into town with her assistant Darcy, a day that would turn everything around forever and never change. But boy, the stories they tell after it was all over. They were worth it.
At first there was nothing unusual about the two as they stepped into her diner, sitting down by a table and giving their orders. It was early in the morning, Darcy complaining about being so far away from the city, and how this would be so boring.
But Jane was smiling, excitedly looking true her notes as they ate, blabbering on about some wormhole that she had traced to the desert outside of town. Isabel did not learn much that day, watching from behind the counter as the two women were given one of the old abandoned buildings in the outskirts of town as a temporary residence.
As the weeks went by Jane and Darcy became regulars in the diner, always greeting her with a smile in the morning. After a short time even the locals started to warm up to them, at times bringing food to the two when they were absorbed in work.
In their talks she learned of Jane's passion for the stars, the love of her work. Even the subject of her ex popped up in a conversation, how she had left him to be her own again and not just a pretty little wife for some idiot. Isabel had to agree there, what she had learned about the man making even her hate him, and she did not just judge people without meeting them first.
Then one day Eric arrived, helping out in their work almost as soon as he stepped out of his car. A nice man, but with him at the table she could never understand what the three were talking about.
They went out on their nightly lookouts for a few months, never coming back with anything but tired eyes and hungry mouths, eating as if they had not seen food in a long time.
A few weeks later Isabel woke up in the middle of the night, the sound of a loud bang jerking her awake. Looking out the window she saw nothing out in the horizon, nothing to indicate where the sound had come from. She went to bed again, missing the falling hammer as it crashed into the ground, sleeping true it as it made the huge crater.
The next day Jane brought that odd man with her, eating faster then any of her customers had ever done. When he smashed her coffee cup into the floor, demanding another she started to think that maybe Jane had had found some crazy guy out in the desert. She did not know what he overheard the two guys talking about a few minutes later, but it was enough to make the four of them leave, Eric and Darcy going home while Jane tried to talk the crazy man down.
Nothing happened for a day or two after that, she saw a few black cars drive away from Jane's place, but never learned who it was. Thor, as she learned his name was, came back with Jane looking defeated and sad. She saw them sitting up on the roof that night, talking and looking at the stars.
The next day was normal, and then the three freaks walked into town, dressed in their weird clothes and carrying weapons. They were friends of Thor apparently when she saw them talking to him.
Then there was a loud crash, followed by several explosions coming from a few miles outside of town. She was already in the street so all she had to do was turn her head. What she saw was enough to make her drop the glass she had been polishing, watching as more explosions could be seen in the distance. She only got a glimpse of the giant when it walked into the town, the three friends of Thor trying to take it down. In the back of one of the cars driving to safety she saw Thor approach it.
Then they turned a corner and she never saw what happened after that. A week later Jane and Darcy left town.
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One year later and there was several stories about what had happened, each one more ridicules then the next. The town had been repaired, a man dressed in black talking with the mayor and telling him that his people would talk care of everything.
Stories of a man who controlled thunder itself and could fly was told again and again, another story about a hammer that no one could lift and how the government had shown up to take it back.
So for a whole year all there was to do was tell stories about mystical beings and fairy tail stories. And for a moment everything went back to normal.
But when that year had passed things started to get weird again, black cars driving true town to go to the crater where the hammer had apparently been. Any meteorites that the locals had found were confiscated and taken away.
One day Tony Stark came to the town, his only excuse being that he heard her coffee was the best. He ordered a cup and then five more, his girlfriend ending up having to drag him away. But he did leave a generous tip.
Even if a twenty thousand dollars might be a little to much.
As the months went by more and more black cars drove true, only stopping to get something to eat. None of the men dressed in black said anything to anyone in the town, always talking in hushed voices in the back of the diner. After that they always drove out in the middle of the dessert, stopping at a random piece of sand where some kids had told their parents that there was something written that could not be washed away.
In July Captain America drove into town, a redhead sitting on the back of his bike. The two were only friends it seemed like, the redhead getting a call from someone, blushing true the conversation.
They stayed for two days, asking questions about meteorites and if anyone had seen a little man with black hair around. With no leads they left again.
In the months to follow there was an unusual number of thunderstorms at night, growing worse and worse as time went by, only to then just stop one day, silent nights once more.
In the beginning of November large black trucks drove true town, at least ten of them driving down to the place where the men in black suits had gone to every time. Then they started to build something, at the same time keeping everyone away who came within a mile of the place. Tony Stark came back, driving down there right away and not once stopping. But a few hours later his girlfriend, now fiancé, dropped by and gave an order for two hundred cups of coffee.
That was a good day. And soon all her regulars were chased of as the men in black took over the diner, making it their little gathering spot to talk and gossip. Isabel was allowed to stay, the one reason being that no one else could make coffee like she could. Eventually she learned what was going on, finding it a little hard to believe.
And then one day the one who had brought all of this to their quiet little town returned. Jane Foster was back.
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When they drove into town Jane could not help but smile. It was the same little town where her research had taken to, eventually giving her Thor as well. And now she was back and nothing looked different.
Except for the trucks and helicopters seen in the distance where the machine had been rebuilt, people running around all over the place down there and the view from the main street giving the perfect angle to watch it all. Looking around she saw that several people already were, the barber having moved his chair outside so he could watch what was going on.
Darcy had gone ahead into the diner, leaving her behind. When she slammed the door everyone who was outside turned to look at her, realization in their eyes as they remembered her. She walked into the diner with everyone's eyes upon her.
She was not surprised that it was only SHIELD agents sitting inside, Darcy sitting with Steve and Fury in the middle. Jane looked over at Isabel, expecting her to either have been removed or mad at the whole situation. Instead she was smiling as she made coffee for one of the agents.
"Here you go dear. Now remember to be careful, we don't want you to burn yourself like last time"
The agent did not say anything, but nodded and went back to his seat. Isabel took a look around, smiling when she saw Jane.
"Welcome back dear. The usual"
"Yea… thanks Isabel" she gave a weak smile to the older women as she got to work.
Jane grabbed a chair and sat down besides Darcy, carefully lifting Thor's cloak out of her bag.
"Why on earth did you bring that with you Foster" Fury asked.
"To give it back to him… but also because it is the only thing that can keep the light down"
"What do you mean-"
Jane unfolded the cloak, light erupting when the center piece was allowed light once more, shining brightly out into the room. People outside the diner stopped to look inside, the light blinding even outside. When Jane picked it up carefully it stopped the strong glow, shining a low glow in her hand.
"When I put it in the cloak the light cant get out, don't know why. Might have something to do with the materials used"
Isabel came over with Jane's food.
"So that is what I have heard so much about"
Fury looked up at her with sharp eyes.
"How do you know about this, it is classified information"
"Oh, my dear director. Your agents may be grown men, but they gossip like a bunch of schoolgirls. Until now I did not really believe it, but seeing this makes it all real enough" she put Jane's food down. "Can I try to hold it for a moment" she reached out.
"NO" Jane pulled it out of reach. "Don't touch it"
Isabel looked confused, but then Jane showed her why as she threw it at Steve. He caught it in his hands, but had to put it down as it burned him with bright white light. As it feel down on the table a red star appeared from it, floating around the room. It bumped into the heads of a few agents before it floated over to Jane, landing in her hands.
"Which realm is that" Darcy asked.¨
"Asgard. It started floating out a few weeks ago when I touched the center piece by accident, then just followed me around the apartment for a few hours before going back"
"And no one else can touch it" Isabel asked.
"So far it have only been me who can, anyone else just gets burned by white light" Jane picked it up, the stone humming as she put it back in the cloak. She smiled up at Isabel and started eating.
"Enjoy dear, looks like your going to need it for tonight"
Jane swallowed a piece of bacon, choking on it a little. When it was down she looked at Fury.
"It… it is ready"
"We only need to do a few checkups. But as far as I am concerned we are ready. All we need is your little rock there to start" Fury sipped at his coffee, giving Jane the eye of "Don't prove me wrong" then he got out of his chair and left, several agents following him.
It was only Jane, Darcy and Steve left at the table now, Jane looking like she wanted to throw up. She pushed her plate away.
"You need to eat something" Isabel lectured as she came over.
"I am not hungry" Jane lied, sitting back in her chair and looking out the window. From where she was sitting she had a perfect spot to look down the street, seeing the closed of area where the machine was.
"What's wrong" Isabel asked as she sat down in Fury's chair.
"This is it. In a few hours he will be back for good. I don't feel ready" Jane whispered.
"Let me tell you something. I will admit that I don't know everything that is going on right now, but I do know that you are doing this to get someone you love back. And in the end nothing else matters, even if you are not ready and fear that something will go wrong. Then there is one thing you have to ask yourself" Isabel sat back in her chair.
"And that is" Jane asked carefully.
"If you ready to get what you want, lord knows I asked myself that a lot of times over the years"
"I don't understand-"
"To put it simply, forget everything else and just think of one reason why you are doing this. Don't spare the director a thought, just think about yourself" with a smile Isabel went back behind the counter.
"So, why are you doing this" Darcy asked, giving her friend a smile.
"To get Thor back" Jane answered.
"Are you ready" Steve asked.
"Yes"
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The weather was weird in Asgard that day, rain one moment, thunder the next and then a sunny sky and white clouds. It shifted between that for several hours until Odin told Thor to find something to do and stop messing with the weather. It needed to be perfect when they celebrated Frigga's birthday later on. Eventually Thor found himself sitting on a balcony, drinking and surrounded by his friends. Volstagg, Hogun, Fandral and sif drinking as well, all of them just looking at the sky.
"So, you really think it is today" Sif asked.
"I don't know. But I feel, impatient al of a sudden"
"But you are ready, are you not" Fandral asked Thor, lifting his cup to his mouth and drinking.
"I am, but the wait is killing me"
"Then let us find something to do while we wait. How about a game of cards, we finally found a fish to play with"
"Ah yes, forgot to tell you. There is no fish involved in the game. It is just a name for when you pick a card"
Thor looked at his friends, but they did not see the logic in that.
"Let me explain"
Several hours later they still didn't get it, and Thor understood how Jane must have felt when she had to explain it to him.
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The darkness of the night was no where to be seen inside of the restricted area where the machine had been rebuilt, giant spotlights and lamps lighting up the whole area and making everyone rub their eyes from time to time.
Most of the agents inside had nothing to do, the agents outside the walls shielding them keeping watch. There was not much to do but look as the scientists worked, talk or look up at the open sky above them, a clear and perfect night with not a cloud in sight.
Tony had hacked Jarvis into one of the computers, the AI correcting any errors it could find in the systems, Pepper looked over Tony's shoulder while he worked. Steve sat with Darcy in his lap, whispering something into her ear, making her blush and giggle. Natasha was cleaning one of her guns while her and Clint talked about which weapon was better, guns or a bow.
Jane stood at the center of it all, standing inside the machine and gently cradling the cloak in her hands, the center piece easily felt true the soft fabric. No one paid much attention to her now, still doing her work while she was done with hers, having checked the machine over several times and finding nothing wrong.
Fury stood by the center console, reading a rapport and looking like he just wanted the whole thing to end so he could go home and just be director without having to run out in the middle of the desert. But he wanted to see this succeed, so there he was.
He looked up when he heard Jane sigh inside the center chamber, sitting down and burying her face in the cloak. He hated to admit it, but he respected her, something he did not do with a lot of people. She had the guts to talk back to him, slap a few jerks around and somehow had the respect of people that had once been, and still to this day considered gods. She had fallen in love with one, and had that love returned. And now she was getting Thor back, being a nervous wreck while waiting.
But she was ready, that much he could see as she looked up at the sky and stared at it. She smiled at something, but looking up all he could see was a star constellation, little dog or whatever it was called. He could have sworn the star shined brighter then the rest for a moment. He blinked and the star looked like the rest. But when he looked down Jane she was giggling into the cloak. He would never understand that women.
"We are ready, I have found nothing that could trouble us" the calm voice of Jarvis announced.
"Ok, everyone to their posts. Tony you stay and monitor the pressure levels. Steve you… make sure not to give Darcy more sugar" Fury blinked as Darcy stole another gummy bag from Steve, the soldier unable to deny his girlfriend anything.
"Natasha, Clint. You two monitor the perimeter and make sure no one is trying to sneak in"
Fury turned to Jane, everyone's eyes upon her as she stood calmly in front of the machine.
"Are you ready Foster" He smirked as she nodded stiffly.
"Great, here we go then. Put the center piece in"
But when Jane unfolded the cloak it was no longer shining, instead it was softly humming and vibrating. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared. Steve got up when Jane fell to the ground, trying to pry it out of her hands as it vibrated harder and harder.
"Someone, get that thing away from her" Fury roared.
But before anyone could get to Jane there was a flash of light from her hands. They had to shield their eyes, unable to see as their eyes was forced closed.
Everything went white.
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She felt at peace, calm, happy and relaxed. For a moment she never wanted to open her eyes again, but then she remembered that she had to, she had to get Thor back.
But when she opened her eyes she was not where she had been a moment before. She was not in the desert of New Mexico, she was even sure she was on earth or even in the same galaxy any more.
She looked around, trying too see if she could see anything she could recognize from her books or notes. But there was nothing, just flashing lights and never ending darkness, it almost looked like she was just floating in a random cluster of every star that exited in all of the realms. She looked down, not seeing the earth or any other surface she could stand on. She tried to see if she could swim, but she would not move out of place.
Then all of the stars started shining bright, blinding her. She closed her eyes to keep the light away, but then the light was gone, a soft glow from the other side of her closed eyelids. When she opened them she could only gasp.
The stars in front of was forming something, flying into formation and taking their place. When they were done a face was before her, two red stars being the eyes as it looked at her.
Jane looked at the stars and the stars looked back at her. Then they spoke, not with a mouth but all of the stars at the same time, inside her mind.
"Why do you need our help human, why are we in this strange place and not with our caretaker"
How could she explain it.
"You… you know what you are"
"We are the center"
"Yea… but I mean"
"We are the center, we are what we are. Why have you stolen us from our caretaker"
"I did not steal you. You were broken"
"Was it you"
The stars started to glow red, and for a moment she was afraid.
"Stop my friends"
Jane blinked as a tiny little blue star flew up in front of, protecting her from the others.
"Why are you stopping us, she must pay" the red stars asked.
"It is the special human, the one who was kind to and returned us to the caretaker" the blue one answered.
"This is her?" a tiny little red star flew away from the giant face, only a tiny little light in front of her.
"She seems… familiar. Like we have been in her presence before"
"Not all of us, some of us have. She needs our help to return what she have lost"
"What have she lost"
Jane decided to finally speak.
"I found several pieces in my realm, I need them for a machine that would bring back… someone I love"
The red stars glowed red.
"SEE MY FRIENDS. She is like the rest, only wanting to use her for own needs"
"No, wait. Heimdall told me that I just needed-"
"You know the caretaker. You have seen him"
Well, that explained who the caretaker was.
"I do, I helped him return you… what ever you are" she looked around at the stars.
"What are you?"
"We are the Bifrost, we are the stars in every piece that was used to build the bridge. We are the ones to help the caretaker guide people where they need to go. We help him see what needs to be seen"
"Does he know this"
"Yes, we picked him a long time ago. He needed a purpose and we gave it to him when we needed a caretaker. We are happy with him as our caretaker"
"If you help me I will return you to him" Jane said before she had a chance to think.
"You lie, you lie. You do not know how. We are the center. We do not work like the other pieces. We are the center"
"But if you are a part of the Bifrost then I can do as I did with all the other pieces I found. I promise I will smash you to itty bitty pieces so you can return to your caretaker"
"She speaks the truth my friends. That was how she returned most of you" the blue star defended her.
"You swear to keep your promise Jane Foster. You will return us to the caretaker"
"Yes"
"Then we will return Thor to you, as long as you keep this promise"
Jane nodded.
"Then let it be done, we give you our help"
Jane only had a moment to think that it was almost to easy. there there was a red flash, and everything went black.
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There was pain, pain and hard ground under her as she opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, looking up at Tony and Steve, everyone else stood behind them to see if she was ok.
"Hey there Jane, you ok" Tony asked, giving her a hand to help her up.
"Yea. What happened. How long was I out"
"Only for a minute. It looked like the rock tried to restart itself, gave you a big doze of… whatever that was"
"Only a minute?"
She looked around, finding the center piece on the ground, softly glowing. She reached down to pick it up, gentle warmth spreading in her fingers as she touched it.
"Shows over, back to work people" Fury shouted.
Jane placed the center piece on the pedestal and walked up to the console, standing besides Fury.
"You ok Foster" Fury asked, giving her a look.
"Yea, I'm fine. Lets do this"
Everyone was at their place, they were ready, Jane was ready, all she had to do was push the button. She looked down at the machine, the center piece glowing softly.
"I promise" she whispered.
"What was that Foster"
"Nothing Sir"
She pushed the button, the button that would activate the machine for real and just not as a test. They had never tried that button, so they did not know what to expect. As soon as her finger pressed it everything became silent for a moment.
Then everything exploded, a little beam of light shooting into the sky and ripping open a hole into the reality of their dimension. They all watched in amazement as the beam zigzagged true one diemension, then the next. The beam ripped open barrier after barrier, trying to find Asgard, trying to find Thor so it could return to the caretaker.
The machine started to shake, the glass in the inner chamber cracking. The beam grew hotter and hotter, faster and faster. And then it stopped completely. Nothing happening.
"WHAT. I PROMISED YOU" Jane roared at it, everyone staring at her as she ran down into the machine, slamming a fist into the wall in rage. Darcy was about to tell her that they would find another way, but then a bright light shined, and a voice spoke to them all.
"We are aware of that Jane. We only needed a moment to rest. We are not at full power right now"
Everyone stared as the rock talked.
"But you're the center piece, I thought you were the most powerfull"
"Like we said, we needed a break. We are ready now"
Jane only had a second to get out as the stars activated the machine on their own, this time at the full power it contained. A beam of pure power shot into the sky, finally ripping open into the dimension it needed.
Then the sky exploded in bright light.
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The people of Asgard had gathered in the throne room to celebrate their queen, the women in question laughing as a small group of children sang her a song, every single one of them singing out of tune. When they were done everyone clapped, the children blushing and running to their parents.
Odin laughed as Sif pushed Thor out of the crowd, holding a gift in his hands. Everyone in the crowd giggled as he walked up to his mother, blushing as he gave her his gift.
"Happy birthday mother" he smiled at her.
"Oh thank you-"
The door to the throne room was slammed open with more force then any of them had. All eyes turned to the doors as Heimdall walked in, for the first time leaving his post since… ever. Odin was on his feet in a second, walking towards the guardian.
"Heimdall, what is this. Why have you left your post" he roared, the crowd silent.
"They are coming" was all Heimdall said in his calm voice.
"Who is-"
A beam of light crashed true the ceeling, the broken pieces turning to dust before they hit any of the onlookers. Heimdall closed his eyes as several little lights flew out of the beam, happily cheering at the caretaker and surrounding him.
One big red light flew towards Thor, hovering in front of his face.
"It is time to go home, to return to the one you love"
Everyone was silent, the room lighted up by the beam that had crashed true the roof. All eyes were on Thor as he walked up and hugged his mother, his father clapping him on the back.
"Go on son, I belive Jane Foster is waiting for you"
Thor kissed Frigga on her forehead, then turned around and walked towards the beam. On his way he smiled to his friends, laughing as Balder smirked at him while he hugged his pregnant wife.
Just as he was about to go into the beam he stopped, thinking for a moment and turning around.
"Might not be the best gift mother, I had no idea what to give you this year. But at least I wrapped it nicely"
Everyone laughed and Thor turned around to finally walk into the center of the beam, closing his eyes and getting ready to finally be home.
"That's ok son. Just bring me some grandchildren when the bridge is finally repaired"
Thor had no time to respond as he was transported away, the beam crashing back out true the roof and going back to where it came from. Frigga turned to Heimdall.
"How long will that take, to rebuild the bridge"
"Four or five years. Maybe more"
"See, he's got plenty of time"
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Back on earth everyone watched the beam, the bright light no longer hurting their eyes.
"Look. Its coming back" Darcy cheered.
The beam crashed back down into the machine, dust blowing up from the ground. It took a few minutes before they could see and Jane ran to the machine, tears in her eyes as the dust cleared from inside it.
But there was no Thor, it was empty.
For a moment no one said anything, Jane was about to cry and Fury was about to rip of his eye patch and eat it.
Then a wormhole ripped itself open in the sky, spitting out a screaming Thor as he crashed towards the ground, he had no chance to stop as he was going to fast. They all watched as he went beyond the wall that shielded them from onlookers, crashing into something.
Jane grabbed the cloak and ran after him, everyone else running after her. When she got to the other side of the wall she stopped, stared at him for a second and then she laughed.
He had crashed into her car, destroying it completely. He was sitting on the ground, rubbing his head to make the pain go away. When he looked up at her he smiled and laughed, getting up and walking towards her.
She meet him in the middle, staring into each others eyes. Then the two of them kissed.
Behind them the machine exploded, Jane's promise to return the center piece fulfilled as it was thrown across the realms, shattering into a million pieces and returning to Heimdall.
But Jane and Thor did not notice, neither did they notice as Fury roared orders to put out the fire or when Steve's pants caught on fire. Everyone was running around in a frantic panic while the two of them looked into each others eyes and smiled.
"Hey" she whispered.
"Hey back" he whipered.
"I missed you so much" she jumped into his arms, making both of them fall to the ground, her on top of her thunder god, the man she loved. She kissed him again, both of them becoming lost in the moment once more. Thor ripped his lips away from his human and the women he loved long enough to say what her kisses told him.
"I love you too"
They kissed and nothing else mattered.
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"Our job is done"
The three Norns allowed the threads of Thor and Jane to rest, leaving the great room and closing the door behind them as they walked back into the living room.
The future of Jane and Thor was now secure, there was no need for the Norns to look after them anymore.
They could do it all by themselves from now on.
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The Bifrost always seemed more special to me, and I always thought that it was made of stars when I was younger and heard the old norse myths in school.
One chapter to go untill the story is complete.