Chapter 3
Jane opened her eyes slowly, feeling like her eyelids resisted each millimetre. Her bedroom was a lot fuzzier than she remembered. Her pillow was a lot harder too. And something painfully bright shone in her eyes.
With a few more arduous blinks, things came into focus. The first thing she made out was a cracked glass roof that was most certainly not her bedroom ceiling.
The warehouse, she realized, cobwebs starting to clear. The warehouse, and floating trucks, and-
She sat up with a start, making everything around her spin like a carnival ride. Ignoring the surge of dizziness, she yanked up the sleeve of her jacket and frantically examined the skin of her arm. There was no glow, no sign of creepy quasi-sentient substances invading her body. There was no sign at all that those unsettling images were anything more than a sugar induced dream.
"Okay," she sighed. "No more chocolate croissants for breakfast."
Taking it slow out of consideration for her still spinning head, Jane got to her feet. She raked her hands through her hair, dragging out a few leaves. It was quiet enough that she heard them hit the floor. That was strange. She wasn't that far away from the stairwell but she couldn't hear the kids laughing anymore.
"Darcy?" she shouted down the empty corridor. "Darcy?"
No one answered. Jane retraced her steps but there was no sign of Darcy or the intern... what was his name? She searched her memory but came up dry. Whoever he was, he was nowhere in sight and neither was Darcy. Jane felt a bit irked that they not only left her behind but ignored her long enough to not even notice she passed out.
Heading back down the stairs to the main floor, she saw what looked like the soda bottle the kids had been dropping through the portal laying on the ground. Either the portal closed or they lost interest.
Something red flashed in front of her eyes and Jane stopped, eyes flitting down to her arm again. Still no red glow but even so, she shuddered. She'd have to find out what bakery Darcy got their breakfast from and tell her never to go there again, not if a single croissant could give her the trippiest dreams ever.
Another light flashed in her eyes but this one was blue and she was reasonably sure it came from outside, not from her own imagination. She went to the nearest window and couldn't believe what she saw. Dizziness forgotten, she raced outside.
"What did you do?" she demanded.
Darcy spun around. "Jane!" She rushed to meet her. "Where the hell were you?"
"Tell me you didn't call the police."
"What was I supposed to do?"
"Not call the police?" Jane suggested.
"I was freaking out," Darcy explained.
A clap of thunder rumbled in the distance.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Jane said, pointing at the police officers.
"Jane-"
"We had a stable gravitational anomaly, we had unimpeded access."
"Jane-"
A rain cloud opened up over the parking lot.
"Now there's no way to keep SHIELD from Area 51'ing this place and looking over our shoulders the whole time and-"
"Jane, you were gone for five hours!" Darcy exclaimed.
That brought her up short. "What?"
"Yeah."
Darcy looked as confused as Jane felt and for a moment all they did was stare at each other. Five hours? How could she have been missing for five hours? There was no way unless-
A crack of thunder over their heads interrupted Jane's train of thought. She glanced up at the sky, then over Darcy's shoulder and noticed that while they were standing in the middle of a downpour, neither of them were getting wet.
"That's weird," Darcy said. She noticed it too.
Movement off to the side drew Jane's eye. Someone stepped around the upended shipping containers, someone who definitely didn't look like a cop. Jane's heart skipped a beat, then took off at a thousand miles an hour. The sight of Thor Odinson tended to do that. She trotted over to him as though drawn by a magnet. Left behind, Darcy found herself suddenly drenched by rain.
"What are you doing here?" Jane said to him. "I thought you had to go home and do... princely stuff."
Thor responded with a genuine but tight smile that didn't reach his worried eyes. "Where were you? Heimdall could not see you."
"I was..." She was about to say here but that wasn't true, not when Darcy claimed she was gone for five hours.
"Hey!" Darcy shouted before Jane could say anything else. She held a jacket over her head to protect her from the rain. "Is this you?"
Thor glanced up at the clouds and the rain stopped all at once, like someone turning off a faucet.
"Cool. Thanks." Darcy gave him a thumbs up.
"Um, we're kind of in the middle of something here," Jane told Darcy, hoping she'd take the hint.
"Um," Darcy parroted. "I'm pretty sure we're getting arrested."
"Right. Cops." In the wake of Thor's arrival, Jane forgot about them. "Hang on."
Jane ran over to the nearest patrol car where the intern getting frisked by an officer. She really was going to have to learn his name, especially if working for her got him in this kind of trouble.
"Are you Jane Foster?" another officer asked.
"Yes."
"Do you know this man?"
"He's my intern. Well, my intern's intern," she explained. The officer didn't look impressed.
"This is private property and you're trespassing, the lot of you. You're going to have to come with me."
He reached for her arm but the moment he touched her, Jane felt something explode out of her chest. A flood of red filled her vision and the next thing she knew, she was flat on her back with an anxious looking Thor hovering over her.
"Are you all right?" he asked, helping her to sitting. She nodded.
"What just happened?"
One of the police officers, a young and rather green looking man, approached them cautiously. He held one hand out toward her while the other clutched his baton. Jane looked past him and saw the windows of the police cars and her own car were shattered. Every single one.
"What the hell?" she muttered. Did she do that? Did that mean... oh, no. It wasn't a dream.
The officer kept approaching. "Place your hands on your head and step back."
Thor stepped in front of her. "This woman is unwell."
"She's dangerous."
"So am I," Thor growled.
Jane heard the officer start speaking into his radio but she couldn't pay much attention because Thor wrapped his arms around her. Despite the extreme weirdness of the situation, she felt a little shiver of excitement run down her spine at the feel of those godly arms surrounding her.
"Hold on to me," he murmured into her ear.
Jane couldn't even finish the word, 'why' before there was a colossal boom and a mighty lurch yanked the two of them off the ground, surrounding them with rainbow tinted light. She peered around Thor's gigantic bicep and saw what looked like stars whipping past them like snowflakes in a blizzard. The wind buffeting her ears was almost deafening. The tiny part of her brain that was still focused enough to wonder about such things wondered why she could hear anything at all in the vacuum of space. The rest was revelling in the idea that she was experiencing something no one else from Earth ever had. It was her theories come to life and the ride was incredible! No amusement park ride could ever match this, she thought. Although, it was was entirely possible the fact that she was holding onto Thor's chest instead of a safety bar influenced her opinion on the matter.
Something like a sonic boom cracked around them and their speed seemed to double. Jane clung tighter to Thor. The fact that he was totally at ease told her that was normal but still, just beyond the rainbows surrounding them was open space. If she somehow ended up outside of it, she'd be dead in seconds.
In the blink of an eye, the rainbows gave way to gold everywhere she looked, and Jane found herself taking a few running steps on solid ground. She hadn't even felt the deceleration but there was no question they'd arrived. A wide grin spread across her face. Unlike getting dragged through the portal, this trip was on purpose, and she was free to marvel at the fact that she was the first human to traverse an Einstein-Rosen bridge to another world.
"We have to do that again," she said to Thor. She turned back to look at him but on the way, her attention was snagged by an imposing figure with a golden horned helmet and an impressively large sword. "Oh. Hi."
"Welcome to Asgard, Jane Foster," the man, who could only be Heimdall, greeted her.
Jane gulped. The words were ones of welcome but his tone definitely didn't match it. Her amazement over everything began to wane and a creeping sense of anxiety settled in her gut. Just what had she gotten herself into?
~~~|~~~
Loki was fuming. He couldn't believe the gall of his brother. First he dismissed the importance of finding the Aether and now he insisted Loki abandon the search to come aid one of his ailing mortal friends. And he didn't even have the courtesy to come himself! He sent a messenger to fetch Loki, as if he was nothing more than a common servant at the prince's beck and call. As if he didn't have infinitely more important things to do. If he could not find any clues in Asgard's history as to the Aether's location or some means of tracing its energy through seiðr, one wounded mortal would be the least of all their problems.
As he stalked toward the healing room, his irritation only increased. He had no idea what Thor thought he could contribute to the situation. His own rudimentary training in the healing arts was nothing compared with Eir's skill. If this mortal was already in the healing room, they were already in the most capable hands Asgard had to offer. What in the Nine did Thor think Loki could do that they couldn't? Likely as not, he would just be in the way.
Passing through the entrance to the healing room, Loki saw the amber light of the soul forge and fought to quell another surge of anger. Clearly the mortal was already being cared for and Thor still made him come.
"It seems I am too late, brother," Loki said, crossing his arms as Thor turned his direction. "I have nothing to offer that Eir hasn't already done, I'm sure. I shall return to matters of true importance."
Or so he would have, had Thor not seized him by the arm. "Loki, please. She's ill."
Loki tried to twist his arm free but his brother's grip was a vice around his elbow. "Of course she's ill. She's mortal. It's what they..."
He trailed off, examining the worry in Thor's eyes. The message hadn't identified the mortal in question. Loki had assumed it was one of Thor's martial compatriots, the so-called Avengers, most of whom were male. But Thor said, 'she'. And for someone not inclined to ever show fear, it was rather plain on his brother's face.
"She?" Loki asked, though he was sure he knew the answer.
"It's Jane," Thor confirmed.
"And you thought the object of your infatuation more important than my work?" Loki tried again to pull free, if only so he could throttle his brother.
"This is important. She is very ill."
"Then why didn't you turn her over to Midgard's healers? They do have them, you know. They're called doctors, and I'm sure they are far more versed in human afflictions than any in Asgard."
"This is not a human affliction."
"Boys?" Jane spoke up from behind Thor.
"I suppose you know that from your extensive and intimate study of their species," Loki retorted with disgust. "After all, you do little else these days."
"Boys," Jane tried again.
"Of what great use is burying your head in books searching for signs of an artifact that doesn't exist?" Thor shot back. "Perhaps the people are right. You have gone mad."
Loki's jaw fell open in shock, Thor's accusation ringing in his ears. He well knew his brother's opinion on whether or not the Aether existed but to hear him agree with the rumours of his supposed madness cut him far deeper than he thought it would.
"You son of a-"
"Silence!" Odin's voice reverberated around the chamber in such a way that it had to be bolstered by seiðr. "If you insist on behaving with all the manners of wild boars I will cast you out the window and down to the sparring grounds so that you may scuffle in the dirt as they do."
Though obeying required that he clench his jaw so hard his teeth creaked under the strain, Loki held his tongue. Thor did the same.
"Now calmly, and one at a time, tell me what is the matter."
Loki withdrew his arm from Thor's now slack grip and crossed it with the other over his chest, making a point of turning away from Thor. His brother took that as a cue to speak.
"Father, this is Jane Foster."
"I know," Odin replied. Loki took some slight satisfaction from the fact that he seemed unimpressed.
"You told your dad about me?" Jane whispered nervously.
"Why is she here?"
"She is ill," Thor explained. "Something is within her, Father. Something I have not seen before."
"Her world has healers, ones who have a far greater understanding of their sicknesses. You should have let them deal with it. Our knowledge of their kind is incomplete and far outdated."
"Just as I said," Loki couldn't keep himself from adding.
Thor glared but made no reply to him.
"Loki is right, Thor," Odin agreed. "She is mortal and other mortals will know best how to help her. Return her to Midgard at once and pray your delaying her treatment has not sealed her fate."
One of Eir's assistants stepped forward to remove Jane from the soul forge. The moment she laid a hand on her, a surge of power burst from Jane, throwing the assistant clear across the room where she was caught by a pair of Einherjar guards before she could crash against the wall. Thor leaped to Jane's side to make sure she was all right. Loki and Odin remained where they were while everyone else backed away.
"That's not possible," Loki breathed, gaping at Jane with numb disbelief.
Odin said nothing as he joined Thor at Jane's side. He lifted the arm Eir's unfortunate assistant handled and spoke a few murmured words of seiðr, revealing a pulsing red glow flowing through Jane's body.
Loki could hardly make himself breathe through his shock. It was as if the solid ground beneath his feet had disappeared and he could not stop the fall.
"The infection, it's defending her," Eir observed with her clinical curiosity.
Loki couldn't fault her for her conclusion but he knew she was wrong. He was about to clarify things but Thor spoke first.
"No. It's defending itself."
The two of them exchanged a look while Odin stepped back from the forge. With a profound weariness, he said, "Nor is it an infection."
"What is it?" Thor asked.
Loki closed his eyes and shook his head, wondering how his brother could still be so dense. "The Aether, Thor. Your precious mortal found the Aether."
~~~|~~~
In the observatory, Heimdall heard a distant call and turned his gaze away from the palace. He was very interested in knowing just how this unassuming mortal woman uncovered the Aether before the young prince but he had to attend his duties first.
Pointing the bifrost toward Vanaheim, he opened the bridge. Through it came Fandral and Volstagg escorting the last bunch of insurgents to Asgard's dungeons. The greater part of the rebellion was dealt with weeks ago but rooting out the last of the miscreants took far longer.
"Acting as caretakers to these scoundrels is beneath us," Volstagg complained.
Fandral let loose a jovial chuckle. "Oh, please. If they were beneath you, my rotund friend, they'd all be dead."
The two friends carried on in their banter but Heimdall paid them little notice. One of the prisoners caught his attention. Something about him was different. He did not move as the rest did, shoulders slouched and eyes downcast, sullen over their fate. The way he cast his eyes around was observant, not wary or fearful. His bearing was straight-backed, but not stiff. His steps were measured, but not cautious. Marks of a warrior.
The guardian watched the procession all the way into the dungeon, not even turning away once the prisoners were secure in their cells. Prophecy and foresight were not among his gifts so he saw no reason to fear, and yet an inkling of dread settled in the back of his mind. He couldn't banish the feeling that Asgard was in danger. Only, there was nothing he could see, no visible threat to guard against. He'd observed the second prince seemed convinced something terrible would happen in time with the Convergence but with no obvious signs of danger, there was nothing for any of them to do but watch and wait. And hope that whatever was coming could be seen before it was too late.