Before departing the desolate realm, John took one final precaution. With a flick of his wand, a silver light traced an intricate pattern across the giant stone pillar. He then raised his right hand, pressing his fingertips to the cold stone. A drop of blood welled up and was absorbed instantly, vanishing into the pillar—a magical marker, a beacon only he could follow.
With the location now marked, John stepped through a shimmering tear in space, following the residual energy of their arrival. The Convergence of the Nine Realms had made the pathways between worlds dangerously unstable, yet it also offered convenient shortcuts. He reappeared in the London factory to the sound of sirens. Daisy, frantic over Jane's sudden disappearance, had called the police. Flashing lights painted the grimy walls, and John saw that the area was already cordoned off.
John arched an eyebrow. So much for Mycroft's clean-up crew, he thought wryly. He glanced down at the still-unconscious Jane floating beside him. "As much as I'd love to let you sleep this off," he murmured, hearing a distant roll of thunder, "we have an audience, and your friends are about to panic." Placing a hand over her forehead, he whispered the incantation, "Enervate!"
Jane's eyes shot open, and she gasped, taking in a sharp, panicked breath. The levitation spell dissipated, and she dropped unceremoniously to the dusty floor. "We're back," John stated simply, turning to face the commotion outside. "You're safe." Jane, however, looked utterly bewildered, her mind still reeling from the otherworldly encounter.
Outside, a distraught Daisy was trying to explain the impossible to a skeptical police officer when she saw a figure emerge from the factory's dark entrance. It was John, with Jane stumbling out behind him.
"Daisy, long time no see," John greeted casually, a smirk playing on his lips.
He strode toward the officer, who immediately adopted a stern tone. "Sir, this is private property. I'll have to take you in for trespassing."
John waved a dismissive hand. "No need to rush. Why don't you answer your phone first?"
The officer frowned. "My phone—" As if on cue, his mobile began to ring. He shot John a bewildered look before stepping away to answer the call.
While the officer was occupied, Daisy turned to John. "Hey, handsome. When did you get to London?"
"Not long ago," John replied, his gaze drifting to the darkening sky where thunder rumbled more insistently. "You two are as reckless as ever. The unquenchable spirit of scientific inquiry, I presume?"
Daisy snorted. "Hardly. Try the unquenchable pining of a certain astrophysicist for her space viking." She gestured with her head toward Jane.
Jane finally gathered her wits and hurried out, her scientific mind immediately kicking in when she saw the police. "You didn't call them, did you?"
"What else could I do?" Daisy cried, throwing her hands up in exasperation.
"You shouldn't have!" Jane shot back, her voice rising. "Calling the police will just alert the government, and then S.H.I.E.L.D. will come swarming in from all sides!" Her last encounter with the agency had left her deeply paranoid about her research being confiscated.
As they argued, John quietly raised his wand. An invisible current of air spiraled upward, forming a protective canopy just as the heavens opened up and rain began to pour. The police officer, now soaking wet, ended his call with a baffled expression and, without another word, led his team away.
Jane was still fuming. "They're going to turn this place into another Area 51!"
"Jane," Daisy interrupted, finally noticing that while rain hammered down around them, not a single drop was touching her.
"We discovered a stable gravitational anomaly!" Jane ranted on, oblivious. "We could have studied it freely, with only a few kids as competition!"
"Jane!" Daisy said, more forcefully this time. "You were gone for hours."
Stunned into silence, Jane looked at John, and only then did she notice the strange, dry circle they occupied. Her gaze drifted past him, into the rain, and her breath caught in her throat. There, standing amidst the downpour, was the man who haunted her dreams. Her eyes widened, certain she was hallucinating. The broad shoulders, the golden hair, the crimson cape, the mighty hammer.
It was he. It was Thor.
Shoving her equipment into Daisy's arms, Jane walked toward him, her eyes locked on his. The circle of dry ground moved with her, a silent, magical escort. Daisy was left behind, instantly drenched to the bone, while John remained comfortably dry under his invisible umbrella. He even produced a camera, ready to document the touching reunion.
He watched as Jane reached Thor, raised her hand, and slapped him soundly across the face.
Then she did it again.
John lowered his camera. "Is this some kind of unique human greeting?" he mused aloud. "Have I been away in the magical world for so long that I've missed a cultural shift? Or perhaps it's an Asgardian custom?" He shrugged, raised the camera again, and snapped a picture, making a mental note to frame it later.
Thor, for his part, seemed more stunned than hurt. The slaps of a mortal woman were little more than a mild annoyance to an Asgardian prince.
"Where have you been?" Jane demanded, her voice thick with a mix of anger and relief. He had promised to return, yet he had fought a war in New York and hadn't even called.
Thor's concern overshadowed his confusion. "Where were you? Heimdall could not see you."
"I was right here!" Jane retorted, misunderstanding him completely. "Waiting for you! Crying over you! And then I went looking for you! You said you would come back!"
Faced with her tearful accusations, Thor explained patiently, "I know, I know. But the Bifrost was destroyed. The Nine Realms were plunged into chaos. Wars were breaking out, and marauders took advantage of the turmoil. I had to end the fighting."
As the weight of his words sank in—the broken Rainbow Bridge, the chaos across the realms—Jane's anger began to soften into understanding. Being the king of the universe was a valid excuse.
But what about the Battle of New York?
"I went there to protect humanity from a threat beyond your world," Thor said, his gaze softening as he looked into her eyes. "I was a fool to think I could stay away. I believe fate brought us back together."
A handsome prince, the future king of Asgard, impossibly strong, responsible, and capable of whispering the sweetest words—how could she stay mad at him?
Thor gently cupped her face. "I don't know where you were, or what happened to you, but I know."
"What?" Jane asked, already getting lost in his gaze.
Thor smiled. "I know."
Jane smiled back. "You know."
"Know what?"
"What?"
They leaned closer, their world shrinking to just the two of them.
"So, what is it that you know?"
A dry voice shattered the moment. John stood nearby, holding his invisible umbrella, looking thoroughly exasperated. "Are you two solving riddles? There's no Gotham here, but I see we've found a Riddler."
"John," Thor said, a hint of embarrassment in his smile. Daisy and her intern shuffled their feet nearby, clearly suffering from secondhand awkwardness.
With a snap of John's fingers, the rain ceased as abruptly as it had begun.
Thor shot him a curious glance.
"I wouldn't get too close if I were you," John said conversationally, flicking a stray droplet from his wand as he approached them. "She's carrying something... dangerous."
"Dangerous?" Thor's protective instincts flared, his gaze falling on Jane.
The memory of the swirling red particles and the suffocating darkness flooded back into Jane's mind. She looked at John, her eyes wide with dawning horror. "What was that thing?"
[Chapter Complete]
***
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