Chapter II:

Darcy smiled. There was little in her life that made her giddier than Jane's despair.

She thought it to be a wonderful thing, the arrival of Mr. Adorably Awkward saving Jane from becoming a fully-fledged hermit. With herself going back to the States now, it was quite literally perfect timing. Perhaps, maybe a little too perfect. Percy was totally weird, there was no doubt about that, but even Darcy could see the brains beneath his strange demeanor. He might even turn out to be a genius, maybe. Who knows.

Jane sighed as the street light turned green. "Well, what do you think?"

"What do I think?" Darcy turned to her friend incredulously. "I think that whatever magic pixie dust Thor hit you with is still on you. You know, with all that making out you guys did? Making love with those luscious lips. Hell, you're probably marked for all time. No shower or bath is washing that off."

"You wish," Jane snorted.

"A girl can dream." Darcy's smile widened. "Just don't hold back any details from me, promise? I want it all."

"Stay away from me, you absolute turd."

"I'm being serious!"

"Don't tell me he's another Thor." Erik grumbled behind them, practically fuming. "We don't need another one of those. Remember what happened last time?"

Darcy shook her head. "Oh no, trust me, this new guy is definitely not Thor. He's… something else, that's for sure. And I doubt S.H.I.E.L.D. wants to mess with us anymore anyways, at least I hope not."

"I don't know," Jane muttered, ignoring the first part. "You never know when those freaks are going to pop up again, asking if we've figured out another way to bend literal Time and Space."

"Well, that's going to be your problem to deal with." Darcy gave Jane a nudge. "If that Coulson bitch ever shows his face again, punch him for me. He still hasn't given back my iPod."

"You're still not over that?"

"Absolutely not, you know how many songs I had downloaded on that bad boy?" Darcy counted aloud using her fingers. "I had like… eight Metallica albums!"

"What's this lad's name again?" Erik asked, still not having left the first topic. "And need I remind you guys that we're technically on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s payroll still, if only through a variety of their subsidiaries so they can continue their money laundering. All because of that bloody god, forcing us into government secrecy."

"Percy, Percy Jackson." Darcy cooed, eyeing Jane with wiggly eyebrows.

Jane seemed to be wanting to say something to Erik, but stifled it for the time being. If Darcy had to guess, it was probably in defense of Thor, who in all honesty and technicality was the reason why their lab was still running. Even though the god had wreaked havoc on everything and everybody, which Erik had clearly not gotten over yet.

"Percy Jackson." Erik muttered, his face never more serious than it was now. "Whoever he is, we can't tell him the truth about us. What we've really been working on."

"No, not right away," Darcy agreed.

Erik's frown went dark. "Darcy—"

Darcy sighed exasperatedly. "It's Jane we're talking about, Erik. Eventually, the two of them are going to get serious, all kissy kissy, and she's not going to be able to keep stuff away from him! Tell me, how she is going to hide the fact that we once made a working wormhole when they're staring cross-eyed at each other. Better yet, wait until Thor shows up the day of their wedding thinking he's still got a chance. Then what? Catastrophe! Madness I tell you! Everybody will break down in tears, and I'll be sitting there with my arms crossed, at the bridesmaid's table of course, saying that I told you so!"

Jane jabbed at her ribcage viciously with an elbow. "Darcy! That's not true!"

"Oh come on, Jane. Don't try to make me believe you're not going to fall for him! You haven't touched a blade of grass since everything with Thor happened. And now this new guy Percy shows up, a cute nerdy bookworm, which I know is your type, asking if he can help out? You can't tell me that this is all just some sublime coincidence. This is clearly the work of some higher power, fate probably, or maybe the Watchers. Vorlons? Whoever it is, it will do you no good to fight them."

Jane was at a loss for words, Erik massaging his temples in agony, but Darcy was not finished.

"Thor would not have worked out anyways, and you know that. But good thing his polar opposite just so happened to appear out of thin air, begging to talk nerd with you. Please. All of this was made to be, and nobody can tell me otherwise."

"Darcy, if you don't shut up right now, I will scalp you where you stand, so help me God." Jane's cheeks had gone so red that Darcy could see her reflection on them.

"Talk nerd." Erik chuckled, a frighteningly rare occurrence, one hand of his running through the desolate remains of his hair. "Well, at least it'll be nice to have another astrophysicist around. I think I've had enough of the political-sciencing."

Jane coughed forcefully into a closed fist. "Actually, uh, he's a fluid dynamicist."

Erik nearly tripped over Darcy's suitcase,

"He's a what?!"

Darcy burst out in hysterical laughter.

"Man, I'm gonna miss you guys." She sighed, her smile widening impossibly more as the bus station neared, her eyes shiny with feeling. "Homies forever."

Jane too smiled, probably because she knew that Darcy would inevitably come back to torture her. And as the two of them hugged, a deep sigh could be heard coming from Erik, their teacher reluctantly joining their embrace.

"Homies forever."

"... I'm not saying that."

"Damnit Erik, you pig. Not even for me?"

"Get out of here, Lewis. We'll see you next summer."

-Ω-

It was true that without Darcy, there was an empty hole in her life. A crazy, caffeine-addicted hole, but a hole nevertheless. And it was also true that no matter where Jane started, her thoughts somehow always managed to land back on the mystery man. There was just something about him that gnawed at her noggin, made her question more than she should. Made her second guess herself over her decision.

He more than fit the bill in the looks department, but that was not what was keeping her mind occupied. It was rather the uncertainty of some things that did not fully add up. How did he, as an American, manage to end up here of all places? Really? All the way in England? Was he really telling the truth? She was not well renowned by any means, mostly due to the fact that her biggest achievement so far in life had been kept under lock and key. So him simply choosing to come to her on a whim, with no possible indication that she would accept, was rather strange. Him talking about the Einstein-Rosen bridge theory? That published article was barely more than a page long. How he had managed to find it, she had no idea. And all of this not to be outdone by there being plenty researching fluid dynamics, the fact that he chose an entirely different field of research to work for was at the very least unorthodox.

All of these things zipped around at the back of her head, making it impossible for her to focus on anything else.

There was a lot more to Percy Jackson than met the eye, and if there was one that Jane supposed she loved, it was a good mystery.

It was not that she thought he could be possibly dangerous or anything. How could he? She could barely imagine him holding a test tube, let alone a knife. But he was interesting, and Jane loved interesting people.

Even more so, she loved the childishly playful and subtly conniving expression that graced his face at the sight of her.

-Ω-

Arriving at the lab a short time after lunch, having just absolutely demolished a delicious grilled cheese and tomato soup, Jane told herself that she was going to be productive. Darcy was right, she was in a bit of a funk. She had done absolutely nothing the day before. And it was about high time that she did something tangible for once.

As she stepped out of her car, however, she immediately knew that her afternoon would not be as productive as she planned.

There Percy was, sitting bottom down on the sidewalk just outside the lab building door. He was out of a suit now, wearing a surprisingly well-fitted dress shirt and khaki pants, with the standard laboratory coat folded neatly beside him. His head rose to meet hers as she approached, and she could positively say that his tan skin looked a whole lot better outdoors.

"Please don't tell me you've been waiting out here this entire time for me."

"Umm," there was a gravity to the way he spoke, even in his stutters, "Maybe? I kind of realized that we didn't discuss when I would start. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"I guess we didn't, yeah." It took a second for Jane to fully dissect what he said. "Wait, have you been here every day since then?"

Percy thankfully shook his head. "Your friend Darcy told me when you would be here."

"Of course she did," Jane muttered under her breath. "Well, do you wanna come in?"

The little voice inside her head screamed that this was unsafe. Mystery man Percy and herself alone in the lab? With nobody else coming in until the next morning? Erik would blow a gasket if he found out.

"Absolutely," Percy said as he stood up, allowing her to enter first.

As they set about traversing the stairs and hallways to the lab, she chastised herself for her impulsiveness. It always seemed to rear its ugly head at the most inopportune times, if it had not already. She was way too curious about him for her own good; the same curiosity that led her to accidentally pluck a falling god from the stars.

But it was not like Percy was bringing along the end of the world. And she would be there to keep an eye on him. She really did need someone new to talk to, a breath of fresh air, even if he was not of the same ilk academically. Fresh eyes without too many preconceptions actually sounded pretty great.

"Welcome to your new home." Jane's nose wrinkled at the dusty smell that never went away, no matter how many air fresheners they used.

"Lovely."

Jane went about flipping on the lights and AC, conscious of the fact that Percy was behind her somewhere. His lankiness had a knack of hanging around the edge of her vision, never leaving her fully alone.

"Want something to drink?" She rummaged through the mini-fridge in the back corner. There was no way she was making coffee, and the machine had gone back with Darcy anyways.

Percy paused his examination of her desk. "Uh, you got a Coke by chance?"

Jane's fingers hovered over the top shelf. Erik's personal stash. "Got diet. Diet Pepsi."

"That'll do."

Plucking an unsweetened ice tea for herself, she sat them down on the table, taking a seat for herself as she popped the cap open. Percy smiled as he accepted his can, and she could not help but admire the air of confidence that he was now exuding. Already, he was a lot more comfortable. But he had not seen the crazy side of her yet. That would really test his mettle.

"Well." Jane started.

Percy's eyes looked up at her as he took his first sip. His sleeves were rolled up now, against lab protocol, but she did not mind for now. "Well."

"I think I've got a lot of imagination," she said. "But I could definitely use a different way of looking at things."

"Going at it alone can be exhausting," Percy agreed. "And, well, I guess lonely."

"Definitely not the best way to work." Jane nodded as she too took a first sip, her eyes trailing away from him towards the window. "What's your number by the way? Never got that either."

He smirked. "I don't have a mobile."

Of course.

"You're pretty weird, you do know that?"

The smirk turned sideways. "You're not the first one to tell me that. Despite how much I try to not be, it sticks to me like those packing peanuts that come in shipping boxes."

This guy was truly from another planet.

"Stop trying," She said sincerely, taking another swig of tea. "Weird is good."

"Right."

Quickly, Percy began to write something down in a notebook and tore the page out. "Here's the landline for my apartment."

"From a hotel to an apartment?" Jane said as she graciously accepted. "Getting comfortable already, aren't you?"

Percy's brow raised. "Should I not?"

"I guess we're about to find out." She said, shrugging. "First day. Ready to start?"

Author's Note:

Holy feedback! Thanks so much :) Glad everybody is enjoying this story as much as I am.

Quick note, I edited part of the interview from the first chapter. The part where Percy brought up the Einstein-Rosen bridge. Forgot that most of that stuff was meant to be kept secret.

Also, I'm currently planning another story, and I'm trying to test the waters to see if people are interested in the premise. It's called Ex Machina. Summary: Falling alone into the Pit, Percy finds himself resorting to darker methods, crossing uncrossable lines, all in order to survive. Or, on the run, Sylvie finds herself in an apocalypse like no other, in a hell filled with monsters, with seemingly no way out but forward. PJO/Loki AU.

So yeah, basically it's a Percy Tartarus journey, but with a Loki twist. Been wanting to write a story about Sylvie for forever, and since she grew up in apocalypses, I figured that this would be almost perfect. Let me know your thoughts :)