Chapter 4
A fleeting moment of silence passed amongst them as they looked upon Loki with bemused and skeptical expressions. Volstagg was the first to trigger a train of laughter amongst his comrades as Loki stood eerily silent.
They were laughing at him. He was suddenly reminded of all the other times he had been the center of their gibes and felt his face begin to heat up with a mixture of rage and embarrassment. This wasn’t a game and their laughter stung, prodding him like a bull ready to retaliate.
He felt his anger slowly bubble over.
“This isn’t a jest,” his icy voice cut the laughter short. They stilled, turning to look at one and other as Thor turned to look to his brother.
His expression was now grim and serious as he stared at Loki. “And you know I cannot let you leave this cell.”
Loki scoffed. “Oh, but of coursenot. I didn’t realize only the crowned prince can come and go as he pleases.”
“Father has—”
“Enough,” Loki snapped, stepping up to evenly stare at Thor. “Do not say that you’re following orders when you’re more than willing to bend them to your liking. What kind of justice is that?”
Thor exhaled heavily, squaring his shoulders. “Do you really want to compare morals? You have killed many and even attempted patricide. I was put in here because of unfair prejudices. You know better.”
“This does not change the fact you want to go against the king’s orders,” Loki indicated, turning his back to him with his hands clasped behind him. He threw a look at Thor, silently waiting for any sign of protest but there was only silence.
Thor felt himself wavering. He knew he would be going against his father, but was it alright to do so when his condition was far from well? His jaw clenched. Odin may be sick, but it did not change the fact that he was being held captive for objecting the role of king. He was put into a position which left him with little option.
He had also promised Jane that he would return. How would he be able to keep his word if he remained trapped here?
Loki continued to speak, “And how do you expect to leave Asgard with Heimdall at the gate? He may have helped you in the past, but I doubt he’ll turn a blind eye for you once again. Odin is already disappointed in him. He cannot risk treason once more. We both know this.”
“Leave Asgard?” Sif questioned. This was the first time they had heard any of this themselves.
“Is it true, Thor?” Fandral asked, taking a step back from the barrier to assess his friend’s face, “Do you really plan on leaving Asgard?”
Thor pinched the bridge of his nose, slightly annoyed that he had not been the one to share the news. He shot a withering look at Loki.
“Yes,” he answered, turning to his friends, “I belong on Midgard, but Asgard will always be my home. Just because I choose to leave it, does not mean I will stop protecting it.”
Sif’s brown eyes hardened at the mention of Midgard. “Is it over that mortal?” She knew how much the woman of science meant to the Asgardian hero. Thor always spoke so fondly about Jane and while it pained to hear it, she really was no competition for a woman holding his heart.
“No, not entirely because of Jane,” Thor licked his lips and continued, “I owe my services to all the realms. I can simply do more as an Avenger, rather than as a king sitting upon a throne.”
The female Asgardian did not seem very pleased with his answer but said nothing more. While she approved of Thor’s wishes to protect the nine realms, she did not approve of him uprooting himself from his home to do so. However, if he truly wanted to leave then she could not stand in his way.
“I suppose that explains why you winded up in here,” Volstagg commented, tapping the barrier lightly with his knuckles. The wall glistened in reaction.
“You will not be able to reach Midgard without my assistance,” Loki suddenly chimed, his head tilted and expression cool, “As you all should be aware by now, I’m the only one who knows of the hidden passages between the realms.”
Sif narrowed her eyes and drew her sword, “Then it is best if you tell us now.”
The end of her sword brushed against the barrier, sending a shockwave of electricity up its surface. The unexpected shot forced her to drop the weapon immediately, leaving her cursing and cradling her hand. She shot daggers up at the chuckling dark prince.
Loki wagged his finger mockingly at her. “I thought you were much brighter than that, silly girl. Did you forget that the magic here does not react well to weaponry?” he smiled and continued, “You really are all truly hopeless without my knowledge.”
The female warrior snarled, ready to pounce on the barrier but Hogun held her back with his arm. It only took a moment for her to calm down, before she shot a glance over at her ally, daring him to explain himself.
“He does have a point. It is best if we take him along with us,” his expression hardened, “However, we must continue to keep our guard up.”
The Vanir warrior scowled at the disgraced prince as he released Sif from his grasp. He had always let logic dictate his reasoning and in the case of Thor’s escape from Asgard, Loki would be needed whether they liked it or not.
“I knew there was a reason why I liked you,” Loki claimed delightfully before turning to Fandral with a smile on his lips. “I believe you heard him.”
“It does not mean I agree,” Fandral snapped back, distaste more than evident in his voice. “We cannot let him tag along freely. What is to say he will not run off as soon as he’s given a chance? We cannot trust him.”
And then they were back to square one once again, leaving Loki to sigh with exasperation. Did they not understand they needed his aid? Of course, he also needed their help just as much. He had no desire to rot away in an Asgardian prison.
The god of thunder had been quiet for a while, mulling over their predicament. It was true that Heimdall would not turn his back on the king once more—he had already assisted them in escaping Asgard before. The sentry had already done more than enough for them. “We do not have much of a choice,” he shot a look at Loki, “I know you will not give up that knowledge willingly.”
The god of lies merely shrugged, a mischievous smile on his face. “Now what kind of trickster would I be if I didn’t have an ace up my sleeve?”
Thor frowned as they all contemplated the current dilemma. They knew that once this wall was down, things could go south fast if they did not have the upper hand. Loki held steadfast to his cards. The king may not keep his son locked away forever, but he would certainly not let him leave Asgard. It was foolish to assume Heimdall would risk helping them once more.
However, now they had another issue on hand—Loki. The god of mischief would not simply stand idly by and allow them to leave without following suit. They may outnumber him, but he was a cunning snake that would be a nuisance to deal with regardless of their advantage—and they could not afford to draw any further unwanted attention.
They needed to leave soon. They were already squabbling away too much of their time trying to decide on what to do. Loki would need to come along if they are to escape, but it was not so easy. The major problem was that once the two were free, what would Loki do? Nothing was stopping him from doing whatever he pleased. He may guide the way out of Asgard, but there was nothing stopping Loki from harming Thor once they were out.
“I think I have an idea,” Volstagg unexpectedly declared as he disappeared down the hall.
Darcy Lewis was tired. She had already spent a majority of the evening typing out the research Jane had passed off to her and it didn’t seem like she would be able to stop anytime soon. Jane had not stopped scribbling furiously in her notebook since early afternoon and Darcy knew why. The older woman was trying to cope over a missing Thor, who was taking his sweet time to come home.
He had promised them a few hours and Jane had hoped he would be there when she awoke in the morning, but as that day came to a conclusion he was still nowhere to be found. It made Darcy just as frustrated as Jane was feeling, and she was certain that the older woman would ring his neck when he finally decided to show his face.
“I knew it!” Jane suddenly boldly cried, tossing her notebook across the desk and bolting outside to the veranda. Darcy stilled, listening in on her stomping up onto the rooftop. There was no doubt she was seeking the comfort of the stars above.
Thor had promised that he would return in a few hours, but a whole day had already passed. Darcy knew they shouldn’t be jumping to conclusions, but she also knew how frustrated the astrophysicist had become when it came to the otherworldly prince. He may have unresolved matters to deal with, but he had also given her his word—and as each hour ticked by, she was beginning to doubt that he would stick to it.
Darcy sighed, calmly placing her laptop down on the couch and following pursuit. She had been expecting a meltdown to have happened sooner than it had. It had been inevitable. She knew Jane was far from okay, especially considering how she ticked for the majority of the day. The scientist went into overload when she was stressed, but it was far from productive.
Jane wasn’t okay, and she would not be okay until a certain Norse god returned.
However, she had a sinking suspicion that he would end up being a no-show once more and Darcy would be left to deal with the aftermath again. After all, she had been the one to help Jane cope last time Thor had abandoned her.
And Erik and Ian had already bailed on them for the evening. Dr. Selvig decided he needed a drink after everything that has happened these last few days. He had stepped out a few hours ago to the local pub with her intern in tow, who felt inclined to watch after the older man. So, while the boys were out getting inebriated, she was stuck at home dealing with an emotional crisis.
When she had agreed to redo her internship with Dr. Foster, she hadn’t expected a repeat of New Mexico. She sighed. She was the one who really needed a drink.
“Maybe he just got caught up in space traffic?” Darcy lamely offered, trying to lighten the dampened mood. Jane mere threw a scowl over her shoulder and sank further down into the lawn chair. It was evident on her face that she was in no mood for humor.
“Why do I even bother believing him?” she asked, exasperated with everything that had gone down these past few days. Her eyes shifted toward the night sky and she frowned. While the astrophysicist sought the comfort of the stars, it was hard to see any of them through the smog. It was no wonder she had bailed England the moment her father had offered her a chance to come and live with him in the States. She could not pursue the galaxies if everything was hidden behind a curtain of fog.
Jane’s frown deepened as she continued to stare out. She was silently hoping that her questionable boyfriend would pick up on her annoyance and return already. It was hard enough having feelings for someone, but it was even worse when that certain someone was from another realm.
The young intern decided that they both needed a drink and emerged a moment later with a bottle of wine in one hand and a set of glasses in the other. If they couldn’t celebrate a reunion, then they could certainly mourn over being abandoned—or at least Jane could, while Darcy questioned how the hell she had been roped into nearly dying in the name of science.
But, there was a bright side to this all. Her intern Ian had saved her from death, but that also led to some complications. She had sent him the absolute wrong message in the process when she had kissed him. In actuality, she had zero interest in dating anyone at the moment. It seemed that he had a bit of a crush on her now, but Darcy refused to let that become a thing between them. She had no time to deal with boys when she was so close to finally graduating. There was just one more semester to go and then she would be home free.
Well, kind of.
It didn’t feel right to abandon Jane either, but it was an internship. She may have had to redo her summer credits, but she hadn’t minded all that much. It gave her an opportunity to work with Jane again and the two had bonded in the process. Darcy may not be a scientist, but she did enjoy working with Dr. Foster. It just seemed like a good idea to continue working with her even after she finished school. Darcy figured it couldn’t get any better, at least until she found a job within her major.
Besides, she had learned a lot during her time with Jane. She also understood now more than ever that Jane not only needed her to keep the data logs in order but to also keep her sanity in check.
She nudged Jane with the open bottle, causing the woman to look at her. She glanced at her face and then the bottle, before swiping it out of her grasp. Darcy gaped as she witnessed Jane cock her head back and take a deep swig.
It took a moment for her to recover from the sight before she ripped the bottle away from her and scolded the older woman. “Whoa, take it easy there.”
And this was one of the reasons why she was needed. Jane may be a stunning intellectual, but she was an emotional mess. She needed her. Jane was obsessive when it came to things on her mind. She could become so invested and absorbed in whatever ran through that head of hers—and there was no doubt that at this very moment a certain Asgardian’s name was blaring repeatedly in her head.
Jane coughed, covering her mouth and wiping with the back of her hand before sliding it up to cover her eyes in shame. “I’m so stupid.”
“You’re not stupid. You just miss the space beefcake,” Darcy quipped, sinking down in the adjacent seat. She glimpsed down at the wine bottle, before deciding to take a swig herself. There didn’t seem a point to use the wine glasses she had bought, especially seeing now that Jane behaved very much like how she did when she was cradling a heartache.
Darcy made a face when the taste of the cheap wine hit her taste buds, but she decided to not express her opinion on it. The taste of booze would not matter so much after a couple more drinks since it was being used to numb thoughts and feelings. It usually did the trick for Darcy after a bad breakup. The young brunette cautiously handed the bottle back to her boss.
Jane’s face puckered as she took another swig and handed it back. “Technically, we haven’t even had a proper date. I know I really shouldn’t be getting this worked up over him, but yet here I am.”
“That’s because you’re madly in love with each other.”
Jane glared. “Not helping.”
Darcy grinned sheepishly and cradled the bottle between her thighs. She watched Jane sigh and pull her knees to her chest as she stared blankly ahead. The intern knew that she would not be feeling better any time soon. What was Thor’s excuse now? She looked up at the sky with a contemplative look on her face.
“We could try to find a wormhole to jump through. The Convergence isn’t quite over, is it?” Darcy suggested with good humor, “Maybe one will dump us in Asgard and you can give him a piece of your mind.”
It made Jane smile for a fleeting moment before the scientist woefully shook her head. “It isn’t that simple. There is no way to calculate where the wormhole may lead us.”
The young woman’s eyebrows shot up. While she had been joking, it seemed Jane had given this some serious thought. She didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing, but she said nothing. They sat in silence for a while, exchanging the bottle back and forth between them. It didn’t take long for a buzz to hit Jane and cause her to finally break down.
Her stifled sob broke the silence. “God, I hate men.” She sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her sleeve. “Why do they all end up being such a sod? I have the absolute worst luck.”
Darcy would have cracked a laugh at her choice of words—if it weren’t for the fact that the older woman had begun weeping. She sat up and put a comforting hand on her back.
“What about the dude you were on a date with before? He didn’t seem terrible.”
Jane blinked, wiping a stray tear away from her reddening cheek. Her brows knitted together as she contemplated the question. “Are you talking about Richard?”
“Uh, yes?”
Darcy actually had no clue if that was his name, but it was safe to assume that Jane hadn’t really had the chance to go on many dates as of late. It didn’t occur to her to even ask about him before because she had always held out for Thor’s return. The god of thunder may have broken Jane’s heart before, but Darcy didn’t think he ever meant to.
But doing It again? The Avenger was really forcing her to reconsider forgiving him.
“I guess,” Jane mumbled, as the last of her tears ceased. She stared blankly at the more than half empty bottle on her lap. “He’s kind of sweet. I could ask if he’d like to go out again.”
“You should,” her intern replied, hoping that this was a push toward something good. At this point, she didn’t want Jane having another meltdown. It saddened her to hear Jane crying over Thor.
Perhaps, alcohol had been a bad choice.
Jane suddenly seemed to be aware of that decision and handed the bottle back to Darcy. She made no attempt to reach for the drink again and instead the two sat in silence for a bit longer, staring out into the city.
Jane slowly got to her feet. “I’m going to bed,” she stated softly, forcing a weak smile. “Thank you, Darcy.”
She wished her a goodnight, before leaving the younger woman to her own thoughts. The intern sighed and closed her eyes as she swished the drink in her grasp. There was not much left in the small bottle. She decided that it would be best to just finish the rest off by herself.
She had hoped Jane would eventually get over Thor, but that seemed impossible. The scientist was head-over-heels for him, to the point that she had desperately tinkered away for months trying to build her very own bridge to Asgard. If that wasn’t love, she didn’t know what is. Darcy may be mad at Thor right now, but she knew deep down that he genuinely did care for Jane. He had, after all, appeared out of the blue when she had been in trouble. Darcy just couldn’t understand how he wasn’t here right now. Call her a romantic, but the two really did belong with each other. They were literally the embodiment of a fairytale when you really took a look at them.
But Darcy’s expression turned solemn when she remembered her suggestion to Jane. She knew the older woman was suffering from a heartache and wanted nothing more than to help her get over the alien prince. So why did it feel like she had just betrayed the sanctity of true love?
She sighed and found herself staring down at the empty bottle with regret.