Hours might have passed, or maybe just minutes. It was impossible to tell with the clock-less building and clouded sky. Eve eventually made her way back to the front of the lab, though it wasn't much better than waiting alone as Darcy had taken to reading the children's book before her and Erik continued to either pace before the windows or stare into the dim street. The only light down the street reflecting off of the muddy river that was once a dusty road. On the table sat three steaming mugs of coffee that Eve had prepared once she discovered the coffee machine still plugged in the kitchenette, one stroke of good luck in the series of unfortunate events. While the nurse didn't like the bitter taste of the drink, the warm mug in her hands was a huge comfort against the chilly breeze wrapping its way through the open windows. Darcy had wasted no time with comfort and instead downed half of the mug in one mouthful, clearly fighting the drowsiness dragging on her sagging eyes. She was in the middle of draining the rest of the liquid when a beam of light streamed through the windows, temporarily blinding everyone and making Darcy inhale her coffee and begin choking. Neither Erik nor Eve paid the intern any heed as she clutched at her throat. The light beam that had suddenly illuminated the room went out just as unexpectedly, plunging the world back into darkness. Eve blinked impatiently as a shadow opened the door and stepped out of the torrent, a puddle of water streaming onto the ground beneath her. Without really realizing what she was doing, or recalling how furious she was at her friend Eve was suddenly out of her seat, dodging over Darcy, and grabbing Jane into a tight hug. The older girl stumbled in shock before wrapping her arms around her best friend. Eve could feel her shivering through the unfamiliar water soaked jacket, though other than that she seemed uninjured.
"I hate you so much!" Eve squeezed her closer before enunciating eat word with a slap to the shoulder. "What the heck do you think you were doing? Leaving us all here to panic?" She stepped back, arms crossed furiously.
"I-I'm sorry, I know you probably all were really worried about me." Upon closer inspection Eve noticed the shadow in her friends usually bright gaze.
"Well no one is worried about me thanks for asking!" Darcy had by then clambered up from her chair and sent an exhausted wave towards her boss. "Hey, where's your man?" She looked expectantly out the windows, as if expecting Thor to dive in through the glass. Jane's face paled in what Eve realized was guilt.
"Jane, what happened?" Erik rested a hand on her shoulder, guiding her to an empty seat. Eve sped to the spare room in the back and tugged out a blanket from the closet. Back in the light of the desk light Jane had taken custody of Eve's still full coffee mug and was delicately sipping from it.
"Okay," Eve stated after tossing her the blanket. "Spill." Jane had stopped shivering by then, but her face was still drawn with undisguised anxiety.
"I went to the crater with Thor." Jane began, her eyes glazed as she seemed to transport back out into the rain storm.
"Shocker." Darcy muttered into her now empty mug.
"When we got there he snuck in, and made his way to the satellite--"
"Snuck in? Snuck in where?" Erik leaned over the table, his eyes widening with worry. Jane chewed her lip guiltily.
"The government group was there, the one who took all our stuff. They circled the crater with tents and guards... they took Thor." Eve's gut constricted.
"Took him? Where?" She tried to ignore the image of Erik's terrified face when he described his friend that had gone missing. Jane shook her head mutely, eyes focused on the quickly cooling coffee before her.
"I-I don't know. It looked serious. There were guards, they put him in cuffs and took him into one of the trailers around the tents." She picked at the still dripping coat that Eve recognized was Thor's. "I have to go after him." Now it was Erik's turn to choke on his drink.
"What do you mean?" The older man wheezed, waving off Darcy as she moved to pound on his back.
"It's my fault he's there in the first place!" Jane pointed out, tugging the blanket tighter over her shoulders.
"No, he's the one who broke in and tried to steal government property, not you." He released a frustrated breath at Jane's stubborn face. "Help me out with this." He looked to Eve for assistance.
"Well... He might had not known better, you saw how he was." Eve's voice faded under Erik's gaze.
"He committed a crime! He's in jail!"
"I can't just leave him there!" Jane stated definitively.
"Why?" Erik's voice was raspy with exasperation
"You didn't see him there. You didn't see what I saw."
"Look! Look it's Mjölnir!" Darcy gasped, pointing at the page in the book she had began studying diligently as the argument began. On the paper was the hammer Eve recognized in the image of Thor before hand, though this one was covered with detailed notes and stories devoted to the weapon.
"Where did you find this?" Jane demanded, pulling the book towards her.
"The children section, I just wanted to show you how silly his story was." Jane flipped the page thoughtfully, displaying a drawing of a man with a mischievous sneer and a snake arching behind him.
"But you're the one who is always pushing me to chase down every possibility, every alternative." Jane glanced up at Erik, her partially dry hair bouncing frizzily.
"I was talking about science, not magic." Erik responded. Darcy took off her glasses, looking exhausted, and Eve supposed this was the hardest she'd worked all year.
"Well 'magic is just science we don't understand yet', Arthur C. Clarke."
"Who wrote science fiction." Erik pointed out breathlessly.
"A precursor to science fact!" Jane's voice had risen to barley controlled yelling.
"In some cases, yes." Erik allowed.
"Well if this is an Einstein-Rosen Bridge then there's something on the other side, and advanced being could cross it."
"Oh Jane," Erik threw his hands upwards in exasperation.
"A primitive culture like Vikings could have worshiped them like deities." Darcy added.
"Yes, yes, exactly, thank you."
"Mmhh!" Darcy rested her hand underneath her chin pridefully. The three girls stared down Erik who held out for about three seconds before releasing a defeated breath. His mouth was a concerned grimace, and Eve pondered how many more wrinkles these past two days had added to him.
"Fine, I'll go." Jane looked up at him, shocked.
"You?" Erik smiled thinly.
"Well, you certainly can't go, not after trying to tackle that guard." Jane beamed at him and circled the table to grip him in a tight hug.
"Thank you." She murmured, though as he the plucked the keys from the table Eve swore she heard him mutter.
"Don't thank me yet."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Any sign of him yet?" Eve glanced up from the dishes had to shove aside to reach the faucet below and peeked out the window above the sink in Jane's RV, her eyes scanning for any headlights. Located in the weed ridden parking lot bordering the lab Jane constantly joked that she'd best sell the motorhome since she almost never made it the ten strides out of her lab to sleep and instead drifts off in one of her many desk chairs while working.
"Nope, and he won't be any faster if you keep asking every five minutes either." The only response was a huff as Jane settled deeper in the fluffy blanket she was curled up in, seated on the single bed built in the wall. "You should probably try taking a nap or something, I'll keep an eye out for him and wake you up when he gets back." The older girl sent her a withering look.
"You think I'll be able to sleep while he's out doing something stupid because of me?" Eve smiled lightly as she finally located the faucet from underneath a few dirty bowls and filled a coffee mug so she could warm water for tea.
"Now you know how it feels." She jabbed. After prodding the microwave button's into life she flopped passive aggressively beside Jane and tugged a corner of the blanket to cover her toes.
"How many times do I have to say that I'm sorry?" Jane huffed in exasperation as she leaned her head back against the wall.
"Seriously, sleep." Eve ordered, ignoring the beeping that signified her water was ready as laziness enveloped her.
"Impossible." Jane mumbled as she rubbed her eyes drowsily.
"Clearly not for Darcy." Both girls glanced to where the intern had collapsed into one of the few seats in the small living space and immediately took to snoring loudly with glasses askew.
"Why didn't she go home again? She knows she doesn't get paid over-time if she's not paid in the first place, right?" Eve snorted in response. The two girls sat in silence for a few minutes, just like when they were in college and would sneak into one another's dorm room for a 'sleep over,' binge watching Disney movies until late in the night, and regretting it the next morning when the 8 o'clock morning class rolled around.
"Eve, can I ask you some advice." Jane's voice started the younger girl from her stupor.
"Of course, though I can't promise it'll be good." Eve yawned, tilting her head against the wall behind her so she could see her friend's face. Jane's eyes looked faraway, clearly troubled.
"Hey," with great effort Eve heaved herself into a sitting position. "What's up?" Jane bit her lip, a habit Eve was familiar with, though usually only when the older scientist was taking a test and didn't know what the correct answer was.
"Eve... do you think Thor is telling the truth? About his past and all?" Slightly caught off guard Eve tilted her head, looking out the window into the darkness beyond thoughtfully. She felt her conscious squirm under her friends hopeful gaze, as if Jane could see through her and into her own doubts.
"Well, if you want to believe him, then you first have to believe the other part of his story first, that there is another world out there. That there is an Asgard, a King Odin, and a Thor in the first place." She glanced at Jane, meeting her sister's hazel eyes with her own emerald ones.
"Do you?" Eve pursed her lips in consideration.
"Do you?" Jane went silent for a few heartbeats, clearly thinking hard.
"I think so." She finally whispered, as if she was scared to actually speak the words aloud. "The universe is too large to be just us here. There must be others out there. Who knows? For all we know there might be a kingdom of gods!" Eve tugged on a loose string on the blanket.
"Jane, what happened tonight?" She looked up at her friend, eyes wide with curiosity. Jane's gaze faded out of focus as she seemed to disappear into her memories.
"I found Thor trying to buy a horse from the pet store down the street," Jane smiled. "And brought him to the crater. You should have seen him, he was so confident that he was going to get whatever they were protecting back. The satellite was surrounded by tents and crawling with government agents, but Thor broke in and fought the guard like it was nothing. Then he got to the center." Eve blinked at Jane's hesitation.
"To the satellite?" Jane shook her head so her brown hair waved around her like a veil.
"No, not a satellite. It was a hammer."
"Mjölnir," Eve whispered, eyes wide in disbelief.
"He tried to pick it up, but couldn't. You should have seen him Eve, he was..." her voice faded out as she tried to find the right words.
"Angry?" Jane shook her head.
"Heartbroken." The scientist's face filled with anguish as she recalled the memory. "He was so certain that this would be his key to freedom, but it wasn't. He sounded so lost, and alone. Could you imagine what that could feel like?" It surprised Eve to find that she did. The past swirled in her mind, bringing with it the clenching sense of loneliness and isolation.
"Then what happened?" She whispered, hands clenched in her lap. Jane shook her head.
"They took him, the guards came and put him in handcuffs. He didn't fight or anything." Jane blinked and looked to the girl beside her.
"Eve, I think I care for him... more than I should. Tell me I'm crazy, that he's a lunatic and I shouldn't even go near him." Eve smiled slightly.
"Oh, make me the bad guy why don't you?" Jane grinned thinly back.
"You've always been my down to earth friend to tell me when I'm being stupid, haven't you? Well, tell me now." Eve listened to Darcy's snoring for a few seconds before answering.
"I don't think I can." This sent them both into another considering silence.
As the moon continued its lonesome journey across the sky Jane finally fell asleep, though Eve found she couldn't. She wiggled from under the covers, suddenly feeling very claustrophobic, and found her way outside. While the day time in New Mexico was nearly always bitterly hot, the nights were equally cold. A stiff breeze scattered the sand across the desert, forming unique patterns over the sandstone ground. As always when she was outside Eve found her eyes drawn to the sky above. The clouds that had draped the night in darkness just a few short hours ago had evaporated, leaving behind a shining canvas of royal blue scattered with winking stars, lights that might have been burnt out by the time the light reached Earth. Like always Eve found herself filled with a hole inside of her heart as she scanned the heavens for an answer, shivering as another gust of air raised the goosebumps along her bare arms. Before she had been adopted by the Fosters, the stars had been her family. They made long dark nights in the orphanage bearable, constantly reminding her that there was more for her out there than the small overcrowded building and endless foster homes. Even now as her life finally seemed to move in her direction they still brought a sense of wonder that she couldn't explain, like something was missing and the constellations held the answers. So with nothing better to do Eve sat on the steps of the trailer and tried to riddle out
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back inside the trailer Jane had dozed off, a book about to fall from her lap and her head resting on the wall behind her. Darcy's snores filled the air periodically, a relief to the deafening silence. Stepping lightly, Eve gently lifted the book from its dangerous balancing act and hefted herself onto the countertop as all the other chairs were taken. The girl lifted the tea she had warmed up earlier that night to her mouth as she pulled her knees up to her chest, only to spit the cold bitter liquid back into the mug. She debated using the ancient microwave, but decided against it as she recalled the ear shattering squeal the door would always release as it was forced to open. Instead she lifted the book Jane was reading and flipped it open. It was the novel Erik had checked out of the library, she recognized with slight amusement, and began to reread the introductory pages. As her eyes began to droop she randomly thumbed towards the last few entries, halting on one that drew her attention. In the center of the page stood the sketch of a man, as opposite to Thor as can be. Where Thor radiated the beauty of the sun with his golden hair and bronze skin this man was the moon. His face was thin and pale, with a lean lithe body. He was dressed in all black, which only complimented his dark hair. Behind him curved a snake, fangs bared and emerald gaze narrowed so that they seemed to reach from the paper and into her soul, curling around her conscious and memories until she was trapped in its grasp. She seemed unable to look away as the creature forced something in the back of her mind to ripple, like an animal fighting to get loose. Eve leaned closer to the book, grasping for a solid hold on the memory that remained stubbornly out of reach. The snake, it seemed to hold a sense of urgency as Eve struggled to focus on why such a creature could hold any importance to her. A pounding on the door startled Eve so badly she toppled from the counter and landed on the hard floor with a bang, her limbs all tangled up and shoulder aching from where she hit it. Jane leapt from the bed, eyes wide and hair like a mane. She peered over from her blanketed cocoon to where Eve laid sprawled across the floor before turning her attention to the now opening door.
"Erik!" Jane's voice was a strangled gasp and Eve scrambled into a sitting position just in time to spot Thor at the door trailer. The scene of the colossal man sizing up the minuscule door would have been amusing if not for the limp body he held in his hands. Eve's blood went cold, but Thor cast her a calming glance as she struggled to her feet.
"Is he alright?" Jane demanded as she moved aside.
"He's fine, not injured at all." Thor reassured before ramming the older man's head into the ceiling. He winced as Erik let out a moan. "Oh, sorry my friend." The whole trailer seemed to dip as he entered.
"What happened?" Jane asked, eyes wide, Eve was already struggling to control her nurse-mode, eyes flitting over her mentor who Thor carried like a rag doll over his shoulder.
"We drank. We fought. He made his ancestors proud." At this Eve snorted in laughter and leaned against the kitchen counter, now able to recognize the rosy cheeks and lazy smile of drunkenness. Jane released a bemused sigh.
"Put him on the bed." Eve ducked out of the way as Thor lumbered in, attempting at carefully maneuvering the tight living space. Despite this many objects were knocked to the ground before Thor finally reached his destination. There, with gentleness surprising of a man of his size, Thor lowered Erik onto the covers. Once settled, Erik's eyes opened groggily their slightly glazed surface struggling to focus on the man above him.
"I still don't believe you're the god of thunder." He stated seriously, then a childish grin split his face. "But you ought to be." Thor grinned lightly at this, patting Erik kindly on the cheek before pulling the blanket that was kicked to the edge of the cushion over the older man. Jane stood beside him, her eyes flitting between the two men as if trying to decipher the friendship that had appeared between the two overnight.
"So," Thor leaned back and glanced around the trailer with open curiosity. "These are your chambers?" Jane's face paled slightly as she glanced around the cluttered and messy room.
"Well, it's more of a temporary living space," she moved suddenly to the kitchen space and stuffed a half empty milk jug and partially eaten cereal bowl into the cabinet. "I don't really have company, actually ever."
"Hey!" Eve pouted, dodging around the rare sporadic cleaning spell that Jane caught.
"Oh you don't count as company." Eve crinkled her nose in mock offense as she ducked under Thor's arm he was leaning casually on. Jane smiled thoughtlessly before noticing Eve's stifled laughs.
"Those don't go there." She realized with a blush and frantically pulled the milk from the cabinet and into the fridge.
"How 'bout you guys go outside while I watch over Erik?" Eve offered with a knowing look towards her sister.
"Yes! Do you want to go outside?" On their way out Eve couldn't hold back a cheeky smile. Once the door closed behind the two Eve went to check on her teacher. Erik was just as Thor left him, though now he had an arm slung over his eyes in an attempt to ward off the bright light of the kitchen. Once she was sure he was going to live she gave into her nosiness and cautiously made her way to the kitchen once more. Stealthily lifting herself onto the counter she winced at its groan of protest and sent a sly glance to make sure Darcy remained sleeping. Eve paused for a few minutes as her conscience had a debate. As predicted her curiosity won out and she snaked a hand behind the drawn curtains to crack the window just wide enough to welcome a lingering breeze along with drifting voices.
"Your Eve is very thoughtful." Eve recognized the burly rumble of Thor, his voice lilting with slight amusement. Eve leaned forward and lifted a corner of the plastic covering ever so slightly so she could catch the sight of the two. They sat across from one another on the lawn chairs in what Jane called her "front yard." Thor was clearly cautious of the cheap plastic seats, and Eve had to stifle a laugh as it dipped at least a foot under his body weight.
"Yes," Jane replied, sending a glance in the trailer's direction. "She is something alright."
"Do you have any other siblings other than her?" Jane shook her head.
"No, I'm an only child. Even though Eve has pretty much been part of the family since we first met her, she wasn't officially adopted until about a year ago." Eve smiled at the memory. While she would never admit to it, she had been unable to hold back her tears when Jane's parents asked her permission to officially be adopted as their daughter. Eve watched Thor's silhouette turn to glance in her direction, ducking away until he turned away once more.
"I'm glad you're safe." Jane admitted after a few silent heartbeats passed awkwardly. Eve could easily hear the tenderness in Thor's voice as he replied.
"You've been very kind. I've been far less grateful than you deserve."
"I also hit you with my car a couple times, so it kind of evens out." Thor's chuckle was rich and filled the air, making Eve smiled contagiously from where she rested her head on the wall behind her. Jane then gasped, a hopeful and disbelieving sound.
"I don't believe it..." Eve knew that only one thing could've brought about such a reaction, and as she dared another peek through the window she recognized the familiar notebook that held all of Jane's research. Eve pressed a hand over her mouth, shocked that he had somehow smuggled it back from the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D. While Eve was ecstatic, Jane's eye told it all. In the starlight they glimmered with new found determination and hope. Eve spied Thor lean closer to the older girl, his voice going hush, making Eve have to lean closer to hear.
"Eve? What are you doing?" The young girl started so suddenly that she thwacked her head on the cabinet above her. Darcy was slowly straightening her body from the contortionist position she had somehow fallen into, her eyes still bleary with sleep.
"Nothing!" Eve heard her voice raise five pitches as she haphazardly flicked the blinds aside and snapped the window shut. Darcy looked at her suspiciously, but clearly decided that questioning her was too much work. Instead she glanced over at the slumbering lump across the way from her and began to lay her head back onto her arms.
"Hey Erik." The older scientist grunted a response and in less than a minute Darcy was snoring once more. Eve studied the window once more, but decided that eavesdropping would now be impossible with her panicked and less than stealthy coverup. A sudden exhaustion enveloped her, and with all the possible sleeping locations taken, she tugged a pillow from under Erik's feet and made herself as comfortable as possible on the tile floor. Darcy's snores once again joined with the hushed voices outside, creating a familiar lullaby that sung Eve to sleep.