If you've seen Only Lovers Left Alive, you'll recognize sleeping!Loki as rather similar to Adam when people are trying to get him out of bed. And if you haven't seen Only Lovers Left Alive, you need to fix that right away. Fic can wait.

Wherein no good ever comes from phone calls. (Drama. PG-13.)

Selvig had for many years considered himself a learned man. He was one of the most respected theoretical astrophysicist in the world. He'd taught at university for decades, done his own groundbreaking research, mentored students who grew to become experts in their own right. He'd been published more times than he could count; he'd been called in on more projects than he cared to remember. He could say, without hubris, that he was, in fact, a genius.

Or so he'd thought.

Now, he understands that he knew nothing. Under the sands of the Mojave Desert, Doctor Erik Selvig is not afraid to admit his own ignorance. Everything he'd ever believed was but a snowflake on the tip of an iceberg that stretched fathoms deep and brushed the ocean floor.

The cube is telling him so much.

She is more than knowledge.

She is truth.

But there are those who doubt. Who are against progress. And who — even as Erik uses her to replicate the portable energy sources nearly perfected in the forties, energy sources that could bring unlimited power to all mankind — would do anything to see the cube's potential buried for all time. Including hurt those who would utilize the cube's wisdom.

There is a covert society inside S.H.I.E.L.D., he comes to discover. The true agents tell him of it, and cube confirms the truth, as she always does. The organization within the organization is a danger to them all. To the world itself.

And to Jane Foster.

Thank God Agent Rumlow, who came to the mission facility and lifted the wool from his eyes, is able to slip him the first mobile phone Erik has been given in months.

"With all due respect, sir, this is my operation."

"With all due respect, Coulson, I don't give a shit. The data your team is sending in looks just like the spikes we're getting in the Western Division. People who are a lot smarter than I am are saying there's a connection."

Coulson shifts the phone against his ear and walks away from the wall of input displays. He would, and does, trust Nick Fury with his life — but he doesn't like this. And he doesn't like that he heard about it from Hakim and Dion instead of Fury himself. "I'm not convinced the subjects know about anything connected to Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S."

"Well, Pierce says it's time to find out for sure, and I agree. We're flying blind on this cube thing and you know how I feel about that. I want answers before the Council makes some stupid-ass decision to use Selvig's research without knowing how it works."

The day Coulson arrived in New Mexico and tried to confiscate Doctor Foster's data, the subject known as Loki had convinced him to change his mind — not because of the substance of his arguments, but because he'd had so much success at the persuasion. Coulson's agents had been nodding as though every word out of Loki's mouth made perfect sense; it was enough to tell him that these were people best observed from a distance. And any doubts he had on that score were eradicated a few weeks after, when the subject known as Thor broke into the compound and tried to take the hammer. The brief questioning afterwards had been utterly fruitless; when the intern Darcy Lewis arrived to retrieve Thor with an obvious lie about drunken bets, Coulson let them go and ordered a stakeout instead. Covert surveillance isn't a fast or flashy way to gather intelligence, but it gets the job done.

That being said, Coulson's not naive. He's been with S.H.I.E.L.D. for more than half of his life; he knows the methods by which the agency extracts information when it's in a hurry. One way or another, they find out what they need to know.

Which is fine. When it's successful.

It won't be successful here.

"Again," Coulson continues, "with all due respect, I believe threatening these subjects will change a frustrating situation to an unstable one."

"What do you propose we do, then? Bring them some Girl Scout cookies and say 'pretty please will you tell us why you're throwing off the same energy signals as a radioactive space cube'? That didn't go very well for you the first few times."

"There's a place between asking nicely and a visit from S.T.R.I.K.E."

"Can you find it, Agent Coulson?"

"I can." And Rumlow can't is left unsaid.

After a moment, there's a long sigh on the other end of the line. "S.T.R.I.K.E. will be joining the party around oh-nine-hundred tomorrow," says Fury. "You have until eight-forty-five."

"Thank you, sir."

"You're welcome. Don't fuck up."

All S.H.I.E.L.D. calls are recorded.

Jane's dreams are interrupted by the vibration of her Android across the dresser. When she tries to sit up, Loki (wedged between her and the trailer wall because that's where they passed out) stirs just enough to reach over and tuck her against his side — and when Jane sees the clock, she's tempted to ignore the ringing and go back to sleep.

Still, no one calls at four AM unless it's an emergency. "Let go," she says. "I have to get that."

Without opening his eyes, he twists his fingers in the direction of the dresser. Nothing happens, but it gives Jane the freedom to squirm out of his embrace and grab the phone. "Hello?" she mumbles through a mouth that feels like it's stuffed with cotton.

"Janie."

Jane sits up so fast she nearly falls out of bed. "Erik? Is that you?"

"Janie. Thank goodness."

Erik hasn't called her Janie since she was twelve. "Oh, my God. Where are you? Are you okay? I've been calling for months!"

(Loki groans and pulls a pillow over his head. Now that he's finally gotten into the habit of sleeping, he does not take well to being woken up. Ever.)

"I'm on a project. I can't tell you where I am."

"Private non-disclosure?"

"Government classified. At the highest levels. This is big, Janie. Really big."

"It can't be as big as what I'm working on. I've finally cracked the Einstein-Rosen equations! Loki and Thor—"

But Erik just shushes her. His next words are both muffled and echoed; he's covering his mouth and the receiver with his hand. "Janie, don't stay another word. This line is secure, but it won't be for long. Someone could be listening even now, do you understand?"

Jane can read the meaning behind numbers, but not inflection; still, it doesn't take a particularly empathetic person to hear the strain and shake in her mentor's voice. "Erik, what's going on?"

"I don't have much time. You're in danger. There are people who don't want your research to ever see the light of day."

"I know, I know. Those S.H.I.E.L.D. creeps are still out in the desert with Thor's hammer. And they shot Loki."

At the sound of his name, Loki stirs a little. Jane tosses the pillow aside and shakes his shoulder a few times; he just grumbles and slaps her hand away. Yeesh.

"They'll do worse than that."

"Erik—"

"No, listen. Parts of S.H.I.E.L.D. are good. They want to help people. They want to put the world back on the right course. They care about the work. But there are others — there's a secret cult — they can't be trusted—" His words turn loose, scattered. "You've gotten too close, Janie. They're coming for you."

"Who is?"

"Agent Coulson and his team," says Erik. "He's going to try to convince you that he's on your side and he's just trying to help you, but you can't trust him, Janie, do you understand? Don't answer his questions, don't go anywhere with him, and don't believe anything he says."

It's four in the morning and, somewhere between dead tired and high on a sudden adrenaline rush, Jane wonders if she's dreaming this whole conversation. "Erik, you're scaring me."

At this, Loki finally opens his eyes.

"There's a man on the way named Brock Rumlow. He's with S.H.I.E.L.D., but he's one of the good guys. He'll protect you. I promise. He'll get you out of there."

"But I can't leave! All my data says the bridge is due to open—"

"It doesn't matter, Janie. None of it matters now. All that matters is the cube."

"Cube? What cube?"

"You'll see. She'll show you things you never imagined." There's another series of muffled noises in the background. "I have to go. There's so much work to do."

"Wait, no, you can't—"

"I'll see you soon, Janie." And Erik hangs up.

Loki definitely looks awake now. "What has frightened you, Jane Foster?"

She's already reaching for her pants. "I think," she tells him, "we're in some trouble."