Archive of Our Own

He realized, only after he'd removed the child from Jotunheim, that he was ill-prepared for the responsibilities of a second son. His own child, Thor, was barely older than this little one, and it would be unfair to not only the children but to Frigga as well. He had not even taken the time to consult with his beloved wife, and she would insist they raise the little one even if they truly could not handle two young boys.

So he remained in the Hub, and when his army had begun the march back to the city Odin had Heimdall go outside to stand guard.

The spells he needed to work in order to get to his destination were slightly more complicated that the usual magic that powered the Bifrost. The first was a nearly-permanent transformation spell that would lock the Jotun child into Midgardian form, set to either wear off gradually over time or suddenly if Odin had need of him in the future. The second was a spell that would send them to Midgard, but not Midgard as it was now.

No, the memories of the Jotnar and Asgardians were still too strong, and would color the perception of the child he was leaving amongst them. He wove a spell that would take them far into Midgard's future, hopefully to a time when the memory of the battles fought upon its surface would be long faded. Midgardians had such short lifespans, that was true, so perhaps ten to twenty generations from now it would be forgotten entirely to them.

When he finished preparing the necessary spells, Odin summoned Gungnir to him and activated the Bifrost to take him to the exact point in Midgard's future he'd chosen.

Any other time, the All-Father would have taken time to be astonished by how much more advanced the people of Midgard would become in a few centuries' time, but he was set to his task. He kept himself cloaked so that the Midgardians would notice neither him nor the child until the proper moment. Odin walked until he came to what seemed to be a house of healing, and entered through the doors that opened when he approached. Absently noting that in time the people of Midgard would master a bit of helpful magic, he placed the sleeping child on a white-sheeted cot that appeared to have wheels.

"Forgive an old, foolish man," Odin whispered, knowing that the child could neither hear nor understand his words. "This is the best I can do for you. May you find a happy life." He whispered one last thing, a name that would ingrain itself into the Midgardians' minds and be useful as a way to find the boy later if necessary.

His task completed, Odin world-walked out of the building and back into Asgard.

He was not there to see the flurry of activity that erupted when one of the E.R. nurses found the infant abandoned on the hospital gurney.

When the reports of a month-old boy abandoned in an Albuquerque hospital hit the local stations, the response was as one would suspect: several people spoke out against those who would just "dump a baby and run like cowards" while others argued on the side that maybe the parents "weren't ready for a child" and probably felt that it was a kindness to drop the baby in a hospital rather than on the street.

A couple of people asked about what was going to happen to the little boy, but in an absent sort of way that suggested mere curiosity rather than genuine concern. Dean Foster, however, looked at his wife holding their two year old daughter and asked her a question. Miranda smiled and replied, and the daughter was enthused over the idea.

One month, several home visits, and a family evaluation later, Michael Loki Foster was taken to his new home.

"And this is a cat," six year old Jane Diana Foster said, pointing to the picture in the book. "What does it say, Mikey?"

Her baby brother, all of four years old, frowned at her and peered at the page with a look of concentration that made Miranda want to go grab the camera. "Meow?" he finally replied, turning big green eyes to his sister.

Jane gave a happy squeak and pulled Mike into a hug. "Yep! You're so smart, Mikey!"

Mike giggled and wrapped his little arms around the older girl as their mother smiled and turned back to her grading. The sitter was sick today, so she'd called the university to let them know she'd be cancelling all classes today and would be working from home. A part of her would be happy when her youngest was old enough to go to school, but she would miss these little moments.

At ten years old and the youngest in his sixth-grade class, Mike was used to everyone in the room being older than him.

Back when he was in first grade, he'd actually been one of the older kids in his class. But he'd also been bored out of his mind; everything that the teacher was showing them he already knew from Jane telling him all of it when she'd been in first grade. He didn't complain in class, just did the work then sat staring at the books and wishing that the teacher would let him read to himself instead of having to just listen at story time.

But he did tell Mom and Dad that school was boring, and that he wanted to be in classes with Jane because Jane's classes were probably more fun than his. Jane had been starting third grade, and had spent her parts of the dinner conversations talking about what new thing she'd learned that day in class. Mom and Dad had exchanged a funny look before Mom had said she'd talk to someone at the school to see what they could do to keep him from being bored.

What ended up happening was a week of meetings and tests that started off really easy but then got harder, and after the last of the tests Mike was moved out of the first grade classes and into the second grade class instead.

And he'd loved school after that, even if he was the only six year old there and the next youngest kid in his class was a whole ten months older than him.

So, yeah, Mike was long-since used to everyone in class being older than he was. And sixth grade was a lot harder than fifth grade had been. The math questions were usually written out as word problems (which Mike didn't really like, because who cared when two trains were going to smash into each other in New York when he was a thousand miles away in New Mexico?) and the science stuff was more interesting, but nothing was exactly simple to figure out anymore.

Last year, when it was Jane in sixth grade and Mike in fifth, he'd thought his then-eleven year old sister was just being overly dramatic about the workload. It hadn't looked like so much more work to him at the time, sometimes she only came home with work in two or three classes while he had homework in six of his. Now that it was his turn, and Jane was in seventh grade and complaining that the work was even harder there, Mike wasn't picking on his sister for her whining anymore.

The only really good thing was that, even though he was meeting new kids since two other elementary schools also graduated up into this junior high, he still had friends from his former school to watch his back.

There were a couple of kids who were older than Jane in his class, which was weird to him, and one of them liked to pick on the younger students. Another one was someone Mike remembered from Jane's classes last year (Scott had been sick for most of the winter and early spring, and had missed a lot of school as a result so he had to repeat the year), and he tended to stand up for the other kids. Mike decided Scott was Good People and asked if they could be friends.

So that was how Jane Foster, Mike Foster, and Scott Lang became close friends throughout their primary school careers.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!" Jane said, pacing around her bedroom and nearly making her brother dizzy every time she whirled around sharply. "Mikey, what am I going to do?"

The sixteen year old sighed. "Maybe if you told me exactly why you're trying to wear a hole into the floor, Janey, I could actually try and help you out?"

Jane sighed and flung herself on the bed next to her little brother, face-down on the mattress. "You remember how I applied to UCLA and MIT and Princeton?"

"Yeah?"

The eighteen year old turned her head and gave him a weak grin. "I sort of, maybe, kind of got accepted to all three," she said.

"That's great, Janey!" Mike said, grinning brightly at his sister. "So you have your choice of three great schools to get your science geek on at. You just have to narrow it down."

"That's kind of the problem," Jane admitted, sitting up and dragging a pillow into her lap. "I'd love to be able to pick just one, but I don't know which one is the best one, you know?"

Mike frowned and made a thoughtful sound. "You want the best physics program, right?" he clarified.

"Astrophysics, actually," Jane replied. "MIT was mostly for the physics portion and then astronomy later, but Princeton offers it as a bachelor's program with an astronomy Ph.D. program, and it's pretty much the same thing at UCLA."

"Well, you know I'm already applying to every school I can find that has a good program for atmospheric sciences because I want to show up the local weatherman," her brother said, grinning and dodging when she launched her pillow at him. "I say go with UCLA so you're closer to home and can visit us here in the sticks every now and again."

Jane giggled. "Since when is Albuquerque the sticks?" she asked incredulously.

"Since Weird Al made up a whole song about it, that's how. Now let's go tell Mom and Dad that you're going to Los Angeles for school next year and start filling out your student aid forms." Mike grinned and added, "And then when I start getting acceptance letters and freaking out over getting into m top three to five choices, it'll be your turn to talk me down."

"Deal." Jane stood up from the bed, pulling Mike behind her and giving him a quick hug before they raced for the stairs as if they were still eight and ten and each of them was trying to be the first to the dinner table.

It came as no real surprise to anyone who knew the Fosters to find that Jane and Mike both wound up attending UCLA, even though their future goals were very different. Jane was finishing up her senior year in the astrophysics program and preparing to go for her doctorate in physics and astronomy, while Mike was a junior majoring in AEOS and was planning to get his doctorate in the climate and weather discipline of the science.

Even now, everyone who ever met the two of them knew right away that they were very close. It was a rare moment when Jane and Mike were too busy with studies or friends to take time to hang out together, and their respective friends very quickly learned that when one of them was freaking out the best course of action was to sic the other one on them. The results were often hilarious to watch, since neither Jane nor Mike had any qualms about tossing things at one another in the midst of their debates, but their closeness was definitely viewed as a major strength.

And that strength found itself tested two months before Jane was due to walk for her bachelor's degree.

The house phone started ringing at three in the morning, causing Mike to groan in annoyance and literally roll himself out of bed. His study group had gone til close to midnight, and when he'd gotten in Jane was working away at her final term paper. He had been forced to cut off her computer monitor to get her to wander off to her own room then gone back to save her work before making his own way to sleep. The ringing of the phone was very much unwelcome, and he swore that if it was Scott forgetting that Jersey was four hours ahead of California again he was flying to the east coast to kick his ass.

He made it downstairs and picked up the phone about three seconds before Jane peeked sleepily out of her doorway. "Hello?" he said, not bothering to hide the fact that he was still half asleep.

"Is this Michael Foster?" an official-sounding voice responded, snapping him right out of sleepiness.

"Speaking." Jane was out of her room by this point, eyes wide as she picked up on his abrupt change. "Who's calling, please? It's very early in the morning."

"I know, and I apologize, sir," came the reply. "This is Officer Dawson of the Albuquerque P.D. I'm calling in regards to your parents, Dean and Miranda Foster."

Jane had gone into the kitchen and picked up the cordless phone, and thus heard the introduction. "This is their daughter, Jane," she said by means of introduction. "What's wrong? Has something happened to our mother and father?"

The news wasn't pleasant.

It seemed that Dean and Miranda had decided to visit some friends a few towns away for the evening, and wound up leaving a little later than they usually would have. The trip wasn't generally a dangerous one, but the road was somewhat unfamiliar in the dark and the wildlife was more active in the late hours of the evening. A herd of deer had been crossing the road when they had gotten over halfway home, and Dean overcompensated in trying to avoid them.

The car had gone off the road and over the embankment, rolled six times, and stopped only after hitting a tree. The driver's side had been crushed against the tree, and the first responders had determined that Dean died on impact. Miranda had been nearly crushed by the safety belt and the car door during the roll, and had died on the operating table less than thirty minutes in surgery.

The Foster siblings made arrangements to take a brief leave of absence from school in order to go home for the funeral. There were some family friends who offered to help out with costs, and Dean's former colleague and good friend Erik Selvig, whom both Jane and Mike had called "Uncle Erik" when they were much younger, stayed with them at the house.

He was a big help in getting everything packed away into storage, and offered to stay behind in Albuquerque to sell the house while the kids headed back to UCLA to finish up the year. Even as Erik said it, he knew without any doubt that this would be the last time either Jane or Mike returned to Albuquerque.

His hunch proved to be correct. After Jane finished up her graduate studies and received her Ph.D. a few years later, she accepted a postdoctoral post at Culver University in Virginia; when Mike finished his own graduate work the following year he took a position at the University of Toronto as a researcher.

Yet even working at universities in separate countries, Jane and Mike managed to call and vid-chat with each other at least once a week.

Two years into her career at Culver, there was an incident in the biophysics division. Jane never really found out what happened, but she knew that the official word was that Bruce Banner, the world's foremost expert on gamma radiation and a major coup for Culver to have on staff, had decided to leave the university to continue his research elsewhere. His partner, Betty Ross, refused to say anything on the subject.

A year and a half after that, Jane learned that there was an opening in the atmospheric physics department had an opening for a researcher. She called Mike that evening and suggested that he put in an application.

Six months later, Mike moved into Jane's small apartment as he moved his research to Culver.

Jane had been out of school for nearly ten years, and was well-established as a leading astrophysicist, when she decided to turn her focus to some odd readings that were sent to her by Erik. He'd stayed behind in New Mexico after she and Mike had decided that it was too painful to return there, moving to the small town of Puente Antiguo. He actually seemed to enjoy the quiet and near-solitude, and had taken the opportunity to set up some prototype monitors in the desert a few dozen miles outside of town.

The results were intriguing enough to forward to Jane for an opinion.

As soon as she saw them, she realized that she was looking at something utterly impossible. From what she could tell, the readings and images Erik had captured resembled an Einstein-Rosen Bridge... but that was thought to just be speculation and myth.

In her excitement, Jane quickly Skyped her brother and continued to leave messages until he picked up. She knew he wouldn't answer immediately, seeing that he was in Washington State to collaborate with one of his colleagues, but she kept trying.

When Mike finally answered, he was excited about his own recent experience.

"We spotted a fire rainbow!" was the first thing out of his mouth when he saw Jane. "Right on the Idaho/Washington border. It was visible for an hour, and I got some fantastic shots of it for my book."

"That's great, Mike," Jane responded, happy for his brother's good luck. From what he'd told her, fire rainbows were extremely rare phenomena, and it was amazing that her baby brother had been in the right place at the right time to see it.

"Thanks, Janey. But you didn't leave me ten Skype messages to ask about my meteorological adventures," Mike said. "What's up?"

"I think Erik might have found some proof of an Einstein-Rosen Bridge."

"Really?" he asked, eyes sparkling at his sister's bit of good news. "Are you going to look into it some more, see if it's the real deal?"

Jane grinned. "Oh, hell yeah! And I'd like you to come with me."

Her baby brother blinked. "Janey, I'm not an astrophysicist. Why do you need a meteorologist to help you out with this?"

"Because," she replied, "it could definitely be proof that the Einstein-Rosen Bridge is a real, legitimate astronomical phenomenon. Or it could be something like the Aurora Borealis. I know what I want it to be, and I might not be nearly as skeptical or objective as I should be. I need you there to keep me grounded."

Mike snickered. "So you need the guy with his heads literally in the clouds to keep your feet on the ground," he said. "Well, it would make for some spectacular photography, and you can't tell a shutter from a view finder. I guess I'll have to come along with you so you actually get photos of the sky and not the inside of the lens cap."

"Thanks," Jane said dryly, her own eyes bright with good humor. "I'll inform the dean of my department that I'll be taking my research to Puente Antiguo for the next year or so."

"Back to New Mexico we go," her brother said with a grin. "I suppose we couldn't stay away forever. I'll shoot an email off to my dean, too, and let him know I'll be collaborating with you on some new astronomical and atmospheric phenomena."

"I'll see you soon, baby brother."

"Good night, big sister. Sweet dreams."

Erik had rented an abandoned garage as lab space long before the Foster siblings even thought about returning to New Mexico, but Jane took it upon herself to buy a camper so she'd have some private space. Mike rolled his eyes indulgently at his older sister before heading a few blocks over and renting a small apartment over the general store. Although they loved one another and were thrilled at the idea of working together, it was just a fact of life that Jane preferred organized chaos while Mike had to have everything organized just so.

The fact that Mike's work area was generally more of a disaster area was also a fact, but it was a lot less chaotic than Jane's papers stacked one on top of the other.

The main surprise was the student research assistant that came from Culver with Jane. Darcy Lewis, so far as Mike was aware, wasn't majoring in the natural sciences at all. He would have noticed if someone as sarcastic and pop culture obsessed as the young woman was in any of the lectures he'd given, but he did have the bad habit of zoning out once he got started on a topic.

Then Mike took a look at Darcy's paperwork and snorted. She was actually a political science major, but had been the only applicant for Jane's student researcher position. He understood what it was like to be desperate for some kind of work experience to put towards graduate work, so he just shrugged and went on with it.

Besides, Darcy made sure that Jane ate and was fully caffeinated, and for that alone he would nominate the girl for sainthood.

It only took a month before Jane and Mike caught onto the pattern that Erik had discovered.

The phenomenon, which very well could have been an Einstein-Rosen Bridge, was showing up at least once every four to five days, always in the same part of the night sky although not at the exact same time. Even then, Jane got to work on setting up the equipment she'd built herself both at Culver and during her graduate work at UCLA to try and get better predictions. In the month since she'd set everything up, the machinery had been able to find a clear pattern and they were able to get out to the desert five times to catch sight of it in person.

"It's definitely not a fire rainbow," Mike remarked, taking several photos of the most recent event they'd tracked. "The conditions aren't right for it, too late in the evening. It's not a borealis-type phenomenon either, though."

"I know!" Jane cheered, her eyes bright with excitement. "I need to check the readings to see when and where the next occurrence will take place. I'd love to get some video footage along with still photos."

Darcy huffed in the driver's seat. "Jane, you do realize that there's a thing called sleep, right? It's that thing you skipped last night until, like, four this morning. I don't wanna have to drag you away from your notes again. Three college credits aren't worth dying from sleep deprivation."

"I doubt anyone's going to die from that, Darcy," Erik said dryly. Truth be told, the girl's antics not only amused him but reminded him a little bit of the Fosters when they were about the same age. Granted, it was all wrapped up in one package instead of two lunatics, but the similarities were there.

"That being said," he continued, "she has a point. Let's head back and all of us get some sleep before starting up again in the morning."

"But..."

"You heard the man, Janey," Mike interrupted, grabbing his sister's arm and steering her back into the van. "Back to town and then off to bed. Your readouts will still be waiting for you after some sleep and two cups of coffee."

Darcy stared wide-eyed at how Jane caved with only a minimum amount of snarking that was met with just as much from the younger Foster. "How the hell does he do that?" she demanded of Erik when he climbed into the passenger seat.

"A lifetime of practice," he replied, smiling in bemusement as the 'argument' continued behind them.

Jane checked and double-checked her calculations, and when she was positive that she had the timing of the next event determined she coerced everyone into the van. She gave Darcy directions and made sure to check over her equipment with some help from Erik, listening only absently as Mike chatted with her research assistant about his last trip to Alaska. Jane smiled slightly, remembering how many photographs her baby brother had brought back of the aurora borealis he'd had the good fortune to see while doing his field research.

It didn't take long to set up (having at least a little bit of the equipment welded to the van was helpful in cutting down on prep time) and Jane settled in to wait and watch; Erik had climbed up partway through the moon roof to observe as well, while Darcy was lounging in the driver's seat and apparently already bored out of her mind. From what Erik could tell, Mike was checking his digital camera in order to get some more still shots of the event.

The time that Jane estimated came. Another five minutes passed, then ten, and there was nothing.

"Jane, maybe your readings were off a little," Erik suggested gently.

"No way, Erik. I checked all my calculations twice before we even started out. Every incident of the phenomena in the past two months was calculated down to the second," Jane insisted, pulling out her research notes and spreading them on top of the van. Erik did his best not to try arguing with the woman, she was the daughter of one of his closest friends, after all.

It was still hard at times, remembering Dean and Miranda. They would be so proud of how far their children had come in their lives thus far.

And Miranda would be utterly thrilled to know that the child of her heart still knew the best ways to drag her daughter out of being a little too serious.

"If you'd mentioned we'd be out here in the middle of the night, I would have made smores."

Jane's head snapped up and she shot a Look at her brother. "Michael!"

Mike merely grinned, green eyes flashing with mischief where he had popped up out of the moon roof next to Erik. "No, really," he said. "It's the perfect night for them. We're in the middle of the desert, no one around for miles but the four of us; who'd complain about a little campfire and snacks?"

"We aren't out here for fun and games," Jane sighed, although the tension in her shoulders relaxed slightly. "I'm trying to prove that the Einstein-Rosen Bridge is science fact instead of fiction. That's hardly the time for smores."

"Hell no, it's the perfect time for smores!"

Jane reached out and slugged her little brother in the arm, her effort rewarded with a dramatic ow and an utterly phony pout. "How about this: if my calculations were too far off and we don't see any signs of the Einstein-Rosen Bridge in the next ten minutes, we'll go back to the lab and make hot chocolate."

"Throw in some mini-marshmallows and graham crackers for dipping," Mike said with mock-seriousness, "and you have a deal."

"Uh, guys?" Darcy called up from the driver's seat; from her tone, it sounded like she'd been trying to get their attention for at least a minute before they heard her. "You guys might wanna see this..."

The three scientists looked down at Jane's assistant, who pointed towards the back of the van. A quick change of direction had them spotting exactly what Darcy had caught sight of in the side mirror.

Jane cursed slightly under her breath and began to shove everything back down into the van. Looks like a few miles' miscalculated threw off my readings by a huge margin, she mused as she scrambled. A quick glance showed that Mike and Erik were likewise tossing as many unbreakables back into the van.

"Go!" Mike called to Darcy the second Jane dropped back inside the van. Darcy wasted no time in complying, slamming her foot on the gas and whipping them around faster than any of them knew was possible for the stone-age vehicle. It didn't take more than a minute before they hit a dust storm, but there had been no indication of any high winds for the night; that had been one of the things Jane checked before they even left the lab, plus Mike would have made note of it even if she'd neglected that part of her preparations.

"What the hell is that?" Jane asked as something appeared out of the dust and wind. She had just enough time to recognize it as a person before the van sideswiped whoever it was and sent them flying.

"Oh my God!" Darcy shrieked, slamming on the brakes; the van squealed to a stop and nearly flung everyone forward. "I think that was technically your fault," she informed Jane, hands gripping the wheel tightly to keep them from shaking.

Mike opened the door and stepped out of the van, noting absently that the wind was dying down and the dust devils were settling. He heard the side door slide open and looked over to see Jane and Erik scrambling out as well; Darcy was just peeling her hands free and would probably join them in a moment. The three people already outside the van rushed to check on the person they'd hit, Jane freaking out and saying please don't be dead over and over again.

Erik checked for a pulse, and found one that was strong in spite of the fact that the man it belonged to had been out in the middle of a sand storm and been hit by a large moving vehicle. "He's okay," he said, wondering if he sounded nearly as dumbfounded as he felt.

Jane heaved a sigh of relief before a tiny frown furrowed her brow. Locking eyes with her brother, she asked the question that was on all their minds:

"Where did he come from?"

Before any of them could speculate an answer, the subject of their confusion abruptly sat up with what sounded to be a roar. Jane and Mike were neither one too proud to admit later that they squeaked like a couple of mice as they scrambled away from the man. The guy was huge, Jane mused, and she was a good judge of that since her baby brother was one of the tallest men she knew; even Mike looked somewhat scrawny next to this mountain!

"You there! What realm is this?" the man blustered; the Fosters exchanged a look of confusion. "Alfheim? Vanaheim?"

"New Mexico," Darcy replied, holding the Taser that she'd wrestled out of her purse at the first sign of belligerence.

The man sneered. "Midgard. Why of all places would you send me here, Father?" he added with a shout at the night sky. "Heimdall, open the Bifrost!"

"Hey, buddy, you might wanna chill out, okay?" Darcy said, a hint of hysteria beginning to creep into her voice.

The mountain of a man turned to regard the young woman and the Taser she held. "You dare threaten me, the mighty Thor, son of Odin, with such puny-"

Whatever the last bit was going to be, he never got it out. Darcy squeaked and squeezed the trigger, the twin prongs from the Taser shooting out and hitting the man right in the chest. His body twitched at the low-level voltage that went through him and he dropped like a rock. Erik, Jane, and Mike all turned to look at her in various states of shock.

"What?" Darcy defended. "He was freaking me out!"

It took a little while to get back into Puente Antiguo, mostly because Jane had noticed some weird markings on the ground in the spot where they run down 'the mighty Thor' and it took both Mike and Darcy to drag her away from them; Erik was no help because he was trying to decipher them as well. It was only after Mike solemnly swore to drive back out in the morning and take some photos of the site that the other two finally relented.

Then there was the business of hauling the crazy homeless guy (as Darcy had decided he obviously was) into the van before starting back to town. Once they finally got him loaded (to the tune of Jane moving equipment around so the man wouldn't roll into it or something) they were finally ready to head back to civilization. Mike glanced in the rearview mirror as Darcy put the van into drive, scowling slightly as a flash of light crossed the sky before flickering out abruptly; it was very brief, but it was an unknown atmospheric phenomenon, and he would have liked to at least tried to snap a photo before it vanished.

The very first stop once they got back into their sleepy little town was the hospital, where the four of them loaded their uninvited passenger onto a gurney that was taken away dutifully by an E.R. nurse. This was followed by the oh-so-exciting task of checking said passenger into the hospital.

"He said his name was Thor?" Jane said, her statement coming out as more of a question. The nurse taking down the information lifted her head and gave the four of them a Look.

"Last name?" she finally asked.

Mike smiled sheepishly. "We didn't exactly get that information from him. We just met him tonight."

"After Jane hit him with her van," Darcy added helpfully.

At the nurse's unamused expression, Jane defended, "Well, you tased him!"

The student grinned proudly. "Yes, I did."

After that exciting adventure in futility, the four of them headed back home at last to compile what information they'd gotten in the few moments of actual recording had been done before the supposed Thor had dropped in uninvited. Darcy had wandered off to her bed pretty quickly, and Erik set the computer to sort through the data gathered before heading to his upstairs apartment as well.

Mike and Jane exchanged a small smile before setting about their own tasks: Jane got her laptop hooked up to the recording equipment and set it to read the gathered data while Mike downloaded the photos from his digital camera to the printer. They could easily finish up in the morning after a few hours of sleep, but chances were good that they'd try for an early start.

"Do you mind if I crash on your couch tonight, Janey?" Mike asked, not really looking forward to the walk back to his apartment at the moment.

"Of course not!" Jane replied. "There's no way I'm letting my little brother wander around after dark anyways, not with how the rest of the night's been so far."

The younger man snorted. "True," he said. "I might run into Heracles or something on my way home and have to buy him a drink at the bar."

Jane punched him on the arm before taking hold of it. "Alright, crazy boy, time for bed."

With the morning came a review of their data from the previous evening, and for some reason this kicked up an argument between Jane and Erik. The bulk of the conflict wasn't regarding the data, oddly enough, but had more to do with the stranger they'd literally run into. Jane was convinced that he was just some harmless nut who'd gotten lost, while Erik was almost positive he was a raving lunatic; his evidence was that said lunatic had called himself Thor and acted as if he actually thought he was the Norse god.

Mike let the words roll off him as he pinned the photographs he'd printed out to the bulletin board. In spite of how fast the dust storm had kicked up and how far off they were from the actual event site, he had managed to get more than a few good shots of the storm to compare with the infrared imagery that Jane's scanners had picked up. Darcy grinned at him as she tacked up some of said infrareds, only for the expression to fade to puzzlement as she took a step back to examine the one she'd just posted.

"Hey, Mike?" she asked. "Can you take a look at this and tell me I'm imagining things?"

The meteorologist frowned and moved to stand next to the girl, turning his attention to the photos and printouts pinned to the board. They made an oddly aesthetic mish-mash of mixed media, but he wasn't sure what Darcy was concerned about... right up until he looked at the infrared image on the upper right hand side of the board.

Unless he completely missed his guess, there was a human-shaped hole right in the middle of Jane's Einstein-Rosen Bridge.

"I see it," he confirmed softly.

"Jane, Erik! You'll want to see this," Darcy called over her shoulder.

The other two scientists ceased the argument that had still been going on behind them and joined their companions at the board. Mike knew the second that Jane realized what (or more likely who) was right in the middle of her phenomenon; he could tell by the way her lips pressed together into a thin line that said she was not going to stop until she got the answers she was looking for.

"I think I left something at the hospital."

It didn't take more than ten minutes to get back across town to the hospital, but by the time they arrived security was crawling all over the building. Erik went to the reception desk to ask about the patient they'd dropped off just after midnight, only to find out that he was the reason for all the added man power.

"I can't believe this!" Jane fumed as she stalked back to the van and wrenched the door open. "Possibly the best source of information I could ever find and he escapes!"

Erik frowned as he said, "Maybe this was for the best, Jane. We don't even know if he's on the level."

"The fact remains that he seems to have actually been out there in the storm," Mike pointed out. He agreed with Erik that it wasn't best to just trust the strange man outright, but he also agreed with Jane that he could know something about the phenomenon that they didn't. If his sister could just talk to this Thor for a few minutes, maybe ask some questions, it could possibly help in her research.

"And he's the only person who could tell me what it was like actually being inside of it," Jane added, shooting her brother a grateful smile. "So we just have to go find him."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Darcy said from the back, digging through her purse to pull her Taser out and check it over.

"You're going to tase that poor man again?" Erik asked with a sigh. "You could give him brain damage."

Jane shook her head and threw the van into reverse, turning her head to check behind her as she pulled out of her parking spot. No sooner had she started moving, however, than the very man they had come looking for walked right behind it.

Mike actually started laughing. "If I didn't know better..." he started to say as they scrambled out to gather up their new source.

"I swear," Jane directed towards both her brother and the man who had been hit by her van for the second time in less than twenty-four hours, "I'm not doing this on purpose!"

Upon returning to the lab, the first order of business was to make sure that Thor had some appropriate, non-hospital authorized clothing. A quick search through some boxes turned up some things that just might fit the man, and the Foster siblings exchanged a wry look at the fact that Jane had somehow managed to pack her ex's left-behind clothing when she'd been preparing to head back to New Mexico.

"Well, Donald was good for something, anyway," she said with a shrug.

"That doesn't make him any less of an asshole," Mike noted. "Have I told you lately how happy I am that you kicked him out of the house when you caught him screwing around on you?"

Jane grinned. "I do believe you just did, brother of mine. And I just want to say that I'm happy you kicked the wicked bitch of the east to the curb for the same reason."

Mike shrugged as he headed for the coffee pot. "I probably should have known that any woman interested in me has ulterior motives," he said absently. "At least Lorelei was fairly honest about the fact she was only interested in me because for some reason she thought researcher equaled rich."

"Your ex was a cunt," Darcy spoke up from the table. "And Jane's was a dick. You guys have superpowers for attracting douchebags or something." The girl took a sip from her own coffee mug and leaned over to watch Thor pull on the shirt Jane had found for him.

"You know, for a crazy homeless guy, he's pretty cut," she added.

Thor walked into the room just as Mike reached over and flicked Darcy's ear. "Thank you for the clothing," he said politely. "It is quite comfortable even though it is different than what I'm used to. But what is the purpose of this...?" he trailed off and indicated the sticky nametag that was stuck to the front of his tee-shirt.

Jane flushed a very bright red. "Oh, nothing!" she said, ripping the tag cheerfully saying Hello my name is Donald Blake off the shirt. "Just, ah, my ex. So! I bet you're hungry."

"Hospital food is notoriously bad," Mike noted with a nod. "Do we have anything or should we go out?"

Darcy popped up out of her chair instantly. "I think we have a box of Pop-Tarts that I haven't even opened yet," she announced as she darted into the kitchen.

It became clear very quickly that the Pop-Tarts weren't going to cut it, which is how the odd quintet found themselves sitting in Isabelle's Diner. The three scientists and their assistant watched in awe as the supposed god of thunder plowed his way through an entire stack of pancakes.

"I cannot believe how good the food of your realm is!" Thor said enthusiastically as he took another bite of pancake.

"I can't believe you're still hungry after eating an entire box of Pop-Tarts," Darcy snarked, wincing as Mike kicked her under the table and shot her a Look; she was really starting to think that that particular expression was a Foster Family Heirloom the way he and Jane both broke it out so easily. Even adopted kids could pick up their parents' behavior after long enough.

"So, Thor," Erik said, "where did you say you were from again?"

"I hadn't," the blond replied, "but I come from Asgard. It is vastly different from Midgard."

"What's a Midgard?" Darcy asked.

"This realm."

"We, ah, just call it Earth," Jane said gently, even though she still had a tiny flush to her cheeks. Mike mentally groaned and just barely resisted smacking his head on the table; he knew that blush, he'd seen it on his sister's face throughout her high school dating career and in the first few weeks before she'd started dating Donald. It was just like Jane to fall for a guy after knowing him for less than twenty-four hours, no matter how intelligent she was in every other aspect of her life.

"Can you tell me what it was like in that storm?" Jane continued as the blond drained his coffee.

Thor didn't seem to hear the question. "This drink," he mused, "I like it. Another!" And with that, he slammed the mug down to the ground, smashing it and startling everyone else in the diner. Izzy glared at him from her spot at the register, and Erik flinched because he knew who would have to pay for the damages.

"Why did you do that?" Jane asked, aghast.

"I liked it and want another," Thor said as if it was the most logical thing in the world, and for him it probably was.

Darcy whipped out her iPhone. "This is going on Facebook. Smile!"

Mike rubbed at the bridge of his nose and held back a sigh. "We usually just ask," he said as Thor beamed at the intern who snapped a quick photo and commenced with uploading it. "Politely. Without breaking the dinnerware."

"Anyway," Jane cut back in, "what brings you to our humble little corner of the world?"

Thor's expression grew somehow dim. "I went against my father's wishes and have been cast out until I prove myself worthy once more."

"I'm sure that won't take too long," Darcy said, patting Thor's arm in a manner that was obviously meant to convey sympathy.

The group fell silent, and as their conversation hit a lull Mike could overhear one of the delivery driver's talking to Izzy at the counter about something they'd found out in the desert.

"I don't know what it is, really," the man was saying, "but it's just sort of stuck out there. A whole bunch of us tried to move it but the damned thing wouldn't budge. It was a hell of a lot of fun til the suits showed up. FBI or something."

It was clear when Thor caught wind of the conversation, because he was suddenly on his feet and halfway to the bar. "Did you say there was a strange object in the desert?" he asked, not entirely polite but less rude than he could have been. "Where exactly?"

The man faced Thor as he answered, "About five, six miles outside of town. But you won't be able to get close. Like I was saying, the FBI showed up and shut everything down. I think they were putting up a tent around it, claiming it was a government satellite."

Thor gave a nod and a brief thank you before walking back to his newfound friends. "I must go. Thank you for your hospitality."

Then he was headed out the door without another word. Both Foster siblings jumped up to follow him, Darcy out of her seat half a second later and Erik throwing down some bills to cover the meal and the mug Thor had broken before rushing after the others. They caught up to the blond at the next corner, Jane reaching out to grab his arm.

"What's in the desert?" she demanded. "That doesn't sound too far from where we found you."

"I believe it is Mjolnir," Thor replied seriously.

"Mew-mew?" Darcy asked. "What's a mew-mew?"

Erik sighed. "Mjolnir," he corrected. "The hammer of Thor... or at least it is according to myth."

"So you think you have to go retrieve it in order to go home?" Mike asked, brow furrowing as he tried to remember the stories. While Jane had never been much for fantasy and fairy stories as they'd gotten older (her interests had lie, not shockingly, firmly in science fiction), he had been utterly fascinated with the various mythologies from around the world. His favorite had been the tales from Norway and Iceland, although he'd paid a little less attention to the main pantheon of gods and more to the stories of the other realms. He'd felt an odd affinity for the people of Jotunheim, although he figured that had a lot to do with one particular story that he hadn't dwelled on in years.

Thor nodded. "I must retrieve Mjolnir so that I can prove to Father that I am worthy to rule."

"What about my questions?" Jane asked, hands on her hips as she fixed an annoyed look on the self-proclaimed god.

"I will answer anything you wish to know if you assist me in my quest."

Erik forced a smile. "Jane, can I talk to you for a second?"

As the older man pulled his sister aside to once again argue over the entire situation, Mike found his thoughts wandering briefly to that story he'd always felt had some deeper meaning to him.

Odin, king of Asgard, had gone walking amongst the ruins of Jotunheim in the aftermath of a great war. As he passed by one of many fallen temples, he heard a tiny voice crying out for attention. This drew the All-Father's attention, and so he rushed into the temple to see what had been making the sound.

Within the temple, abandoned and alone, Odin found a tiny Jotun child placed upon the altar.

The All-Father could not bear to see any child in such a state, and so he took the babe from the temple with him when he left. However, he already had two sons, one who was nearly a man and one newly born, and so could not keep the Jotun foundling. Instead, Odin descended to Midgard where he entrusted the child into the care of a mortal family. Before departing for Asgard once more, the All-Father named the boy Loki, and proclaimed that he would return to train him when the time was right.

And so Loki became a child of Midgard, where he was loved by all who knew him.

Mike wasn't sure what appealed to him most about the tale, but he thought it had to do with the fact that he had been adopted as a baby just like the mythical Earth-raised frost giant. When he was younger, he'd sometimes like to pretend that he was really Loki, and that the king of the Norse gods had given him directly to the Fosters. But he knew it was just a fantasy, and kept it to himself.

He shook himself back out of his thoughts just in time for Erik and Jane to end their glaring match and walk back over; Jane had a warm yet apologetic smile on her face.

"We would like to help you," she said, "but I'm afraid we really can't right now."

Thor nodded in understanding. "Then this is where we part ways. Jane Foster, Michael Foster, Erik Selvig, Darcy, farewell."

The man turned and walked away, and the original foursome headed in the other direction.

"I can't believe I'm just letting him leave without getting any of my questions answered," Jane sighed.

Erik patted her on the shoulder reassuringly. "Nothing says that we can't keep looking for answers, Jane," he said soothingly. He was about to continue, but was cut off as a tow truck turned the corner in front of them, a familiar stone-age van being hauled behind it.

For a moment, all of them just stood in stunned silence. Then Jane gave an enraged cry of that's my van! and turned on her heel to run for the lab. Mike, Erik, and Darcy were right behind her, and they all arrived back just in time to see black-suited government types packing the contents of their lab into two unmarked vans.

The man overseeing the repossession of all their equipment was an unassuming, slightly balding man just a little shorter than Mike, dressed in a black suit and tie like the rest of the men. He looked up when he heard the scientists and their assistant approaching, offering a polite smile.

"Dr. Foster? I'm Agent Coulson from the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division," he said by way of introduction. "SHIELD for short."

"I don't care who you are," Jane practically snarled. "You're stealing my lab!"

"Re-appropriating information that is highly classified," Coulson corrected. "You'll be compensated for the cost of everything that we remove from this location."

"My sister built most of this equipment," Mike replied, frustrated not only on Jane's behalf but his own; he clearly recognized his photographs being taken away along with every printout that they had of the events. "It's not like we can go to Radio Shack and buy replacements!"

Jane added, "My life's work is on those computers and in this notebook," holding up said battered notebook to punctuate her statement. A passing agent quickly plucked it from her hand, ignoring her protests and dropping it into a box with the last of the lab equipment.

Coulson offered another small smile. "The United States government thanks you for your cooperation."

After checking through the building to see if the SHIELD agents had left even a small piece of equipment, the dejected foursome found themselves seated on the roof of the garage. The view from up here was beautiful, putting the little town that they currently called home on display, but none of them really felt like enjoying the scenery.

"I can't believe they took everything," Jane said, her voice wavering with tears she refused to shed.

Mike nodded, one knee drawn up to his chest. "The scanners, the weather tracking gear, all our cameras..."

"They stole my iPod," Darcy added in a dejected tone.

Erik sighed. "I've heard about something like this happening before," he said, his frustration clear in his voice. "A colleague of mine from years back had a run-in with SHIELD. Lost all his work and was off the grid for a long time before anyone heard from him."

"I'd just downloaded, like, fifty songs to it."

"Darcy," Jane sighed, "can we just forget about your iPod for a minute?"

Mike shot the intern a look and nearly rolled his eyes at her not-so-innocent shrug. As he'd half-suspected, Darcy was trying to keep their spirits up in her own, Darcy-ish way. He did appreciate the effort, even if he wasn't much in the mood to be cheered up.

"My former colleague might have some advice for us," Erik offered. "I can send him an email, ask how he handled SHIELD when they came after his project."

Jane turned to smile shyly at Erik. "They took your laptop."

And that was how they found themselves at Puente Antiguo's tiny public library, Erik using the dial-up internet connection to send an email off to one Dr. Henry Pym as Jane set about trying to rework her formulas and theories from the limited selection of astronomy books there were in the collection. Darcy was doing her best to help, flipping through the books looking for anything remotely similar to Jane's notes while Mike quietly made a phone call to Culver to find out if SHIELD had gone so far as to raid their offices back in Virginia.

After being reassured by Betty that no one had gone near either Jane's or his offices in the time they'd been gone save for a couple lost students, Mike hung up his phone and returned to the table. He'd just pulled over one of the books Jane hadn't opened yet when Erik returned and dropped what was very much not an astronomy book on the table.

"What's this, then?" Jane asked, looking up at her father's oldest friend.

"A book on Norse myths," Erik replied. "Thor is listed in there, along with all sorts of other fairy stories. Look," he sighed as the petite brunette stood up with fire in her eyes, "I know you want this to be real, but these are the stories I grew up with. None of them are real."

As he spoke, Darcy pulled the book over to herself and started to leaf through the pages before stopping abruptly, her face lighting up. "Hey, guys, here's Mew-mew!" she said brightly, turning the book to show them the illustration of a stereotypical Viking figure wielding a hammer. It looked nothing like the man they were coming to know as Thor, but it still resonated a bit in Mike's mind.

After all, he'd grown up on the same stories Erik had, and quite happily.

"I still think he might be some help," Jane offered. "But I won't push the issue. I won't even try to look for him if you think it's for the best."

Erik offered a smile. "What I think would be best is trying to write down everything you remember. We can rebuild the equipment and start over again. It'll take some time, but it's not impossible."

"Okay. Listen," she said, "I'm going to go see if I can get my van back, SHIELD's probably stripped everything by now anyway, and then get some lunch. Did you guys want anything?"

Receiving a unanimous no thanks, Jane slipped out of the library. Mike watched her go, a small frown on his face. He didn't believe for one second that his big sister had given up on the idea of talking to Thor, and he would be sorely surprised if she didn't track him down during her lunch break.

He turned back to the astronomy books, his eyes only briefly skimming over the open mythology book still opened in front of Darcy; she had flipped to the story of Loki and was reading his own favorite story quietly to herself.

When Jane still hadn't wandered back to the lab before nightfall, Mike shared his suspicions with Erik and Darcy. Not surprisingly, they'd both had similar thoughts and were basically waiting for Jane to come back in her own time. Erik was still under the impression that Thor was a harmless crazy person, while Darcy was slowly coming to think he might be the real deal.

As for Mike, he wasn't entirely sure what to think. It had only been a day since the supposed god of thunder has literally dropped into their lives, and it felt like so much had changed. He was still the same person, no doubt about that, but he'd spent more time in the past eight to ten hours dwelling on ancient stories from a long-dead civilization that had been just a pastime for him as a child. He decided to shake off the uneasiness he was feeling as a result of his thoughts and try to get a little bit of sleep before heading out in the morning to buy a new digital camera.

Thank God for grant money.

He'd managed to doze off somehow, his dreams filled with fire rainbows and flames and ice and an infant's mournful cries, before he was abruptly jolted from sleep by "Poker Face" blaring from his phone.

Grabbing the phone (and vowing to change the ringtone back to what it had been before Darcy had spent an afternoon of boredom messing with the damned thing), Mike pressed the call button. "Hello?"

"Hey, hi, baby brother."

Mike closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Janey, where are you? Please tell me you aren't in jail."

Jane giggled nervously. "Ah, no. Not yet anyway. You see, um... I found Thor."

"This does not surprise me."

"And, I kind of, sort of, drove him back out to where he thought those SHIELD guys have set up camp around Mjolnir."

He groaned and flopped onto his back. "Is that why you say you aren't in jail yet?"

"Yeah." Jane was quiet for a second before adding, "He's kind of, um, beating up everyone that I've seen so far, and it's pouring out here. Could you come and get me if I'm not back in the next half hour?"

Any remaining sleepiness he may have still felt abruptly vanished, and he climbed out of bed already searching for Erik's car keys. "I'll be out there in about twenty minutes. Stay where you are, unless you can slip away and get back to the van."

"I think they already found the van again, so..."

Mike heaved a sigh. "I'll be there soon. Lie low."

He actually managed to cut about five minutes off the drive by virtue of there being absolutely nobody else on the road; Puente Antiguo tended to shut down save for the bar by nine at night, which meant nobody was driving. The concept of designated driver in their little town was more along the lines of all of you live close enough to the bar to walk home, why do you need to drive over in the first place? Erik had been annoyed when he woke the older man up to tell him where he was headed, but said to call him if anything came up; Darcy had wandered out and immediately headed to the laptop she'd somehow managed to still be in possession of to start working on a contingency plan in case they wound up needing one.

Mike cut the headlights as soon as he spotted the spotlights from the giant tent city in the distance, and carefully eased Erik's car forward while still staying away from the security perimeter that was likely to be in place. He rolled to a stop next to some boulders, and nearly jumped when the passenger side door swung open. Jane offered him an embarrassed grin as she pulled it shut behind her and slumped in the seat.

"I thought the younger sibling was supposed to be the one doing stupid, dangerous things," he quipped, feeling a hint of amusement as she flushed slightly.

"In my defense, he promised to get my equipment and all back," Jane replied weakly. "I haven't heard anything from down there in a little while, and the rain's stopped, so I think that means Thor didn't manage whatever it was he needed to do."

Mike let his head thump on the steering wheel. "Well, that's lovely," he said. "It looks like we'll have to use Darcy's back-up plan to get Thor out of custody."

His sister gave him a look. "Darcy came up with a plan. Our Darcy? The same Darcy who spent all afternoon bitching about her iPod?"

"Yep. I honestly don't think it's going to work for a second."

Mike had pretty much headed straight back to bed after passing the car keys back to Erik, who was headed out to try and implement Darcy's "daring master plan." The fact that the phony information she'd made up for the new and improved Donald Blake used the Facebook photo of Thor from that morning didn't instill the meteorologist with an overabundance of confidence, and he still had so much to do in the morning that he couldn't sit up waiting.

He waved a goodnight to Jane and headed for the futon in the back portion of the lab, where he'd crashed earlier instead of going back to the apartment. It didn't take long for him to drop back to sleep, and abruptly back into his dreams.

He wouldn't clearly remember anything when he woke up, but would attribute the parts he remembered to having skimmed through the library's Norse mythology book the previous afternoon. There was really no other reason for him to dream of snow all around when he was in the middle of the desert or of a bridge made of light unless he was thinking more than he realized about Jane's Einstein-Rosen Bridge.

When he finally managed to drag himself awake, he could hear some movement from the kitchen area of the garage. Mike hauled himself off the futon and headed that way, pausing as he reached the door and spotted Thor helping Jane make breakfast.

"So it worked, then?" he asked, grinning as his sister jumped and blushed bright red.

"Mike! You're awake, hey. Good morning," Jane stammered, and hoo boy, yeah, she was utterly head over heels for Thor. "We're making eggs for breakfast. You want eggs?"

Thor offered a small, friendly smile and a cup of coffee. Mike accepted the drink eagerly and downed almost half of it in one go before taking a seat at the table. "Good morning. Yes, eggs will be fine. How are you this morning, Thor?" he added, turning to the blond with a small frown.

The other man's expression shifted to something sad and lost. "I am as well as can be expected. I do not believe I will ever be worthy of Mjolnir again, but I may be able to build a new life here."

Mike blinked slowly. "I'm sorry to hear that you can't go back home," he said, understanding in his own way that sometimes returning was impossible; he might be in New Mexico, true, but he couldn't bear to think of heading to Albuquerque for any reason. "Jane probably told you this last night, but if you need any help at all..."

"Thank you, Michael." The bright smile Thor offered was honest, and Mike couldn't help but return it.

He snickered into his coffee cup when Erik dragged himself in, looking like he'd gone ten rounds with an entire bar full of alcohol. Darcy followed a moment later, unnaturally perky and seeming to enjoy Erik's hangover. Mike's amusement only grew as the older man grabbed a raw egg and some Alka Seltzer to set about making a hangover remedy.

It didn't take too long for Thor and Jane to finish cooking breakfast and get it served to everyone, and they settled in to eat. Jane dropped a familiar notebook on the table, and her brother couldn’t help but smile brightly at her; the blond had managed to at least save her notes, so Janey wouldn't have to start her research all over from scratch.

"So, I think we can probably buy the base electronics in town, and start work on rebuilding the equipment," the astrophysicist said cheerfully. "I know you were going to get a new camera today, right, Mikey?"

The younger Foster nodded. "I'll probably head into town right after we finish eating. If you give me a list of what you want to cannibalize for parts, I can pick that up while I'm there."

"Can you get me a new iPod while you're at it? I miss my tunes."

Erik shook his head indulgently as the younger members of his make-shift family planned and bickered. He glanced across the table at Thor, who was looking at all of them fondly, and mused that just maybe the big man could find a spot in their lives.

Then there was a knock on the windows, and when they looked up it was to find an odd group of three men and a woman, dressed like they'd gotten lost on their way to a sci fi convention, smiling broadly in at them.

"Found you!" one of them, a large red-headed fellow with a very impressive beard, crowed happily.

Thor scrambled to his feet and headed for the door to let them in, and the four strangers moved in the same direction. The Foster siblings exchanged a look before clamoring out of their own chairs and following as quickly as they could. Darcy politely held back and waited until Erik stood up before walking with him at a slower pace to meet the newcomers.

"My friends, welcome!" Thor cried cheerfully. He clasped arms with the mustachioed blond who came in first and accepted a friendly hug from the woman. Jane felt a brief flicker of jealousy, lasting only until Mike nudged her shoulder.

"Allow me to make the introductions," the redhead said, smiling brightly behind his beard. "The Lady Sif and the Warriors Three, Thor's closest companions. I am Volstagg, it is a pleasure to meet you. This grim fellow is Hogun," he nodded towards the man who looked somewhat Asian in appearance, making Jane think oddly of Mongol warriors, "and our final companion is the dashing Fandral."

The slighter blond man gave a small bow to them, although his gaze lingered momentarily on one of Thor's new friends before he turned to his prince. "It is good to find you well, Thor. But we must return to Asgard immediately."

Thor's face fell, eyes darkening in sadness. "I cannot return. The peace is dependent on my banishment."

All eight of the thunder god's friends frowned in confusion, the humans because they hadn't heard that bit of the story and the Asgardians because they had heard no such thing.

"Thor," Sif said gently, "there is no peace accord with Jotunheim at the moment. We remain on the verge of war."

"Still, it was Father's final lesson for me," Thor argued. "I have failed his test."

"Final wish?" Fandral asked, glancing at the rest of his shield-brothers in confusion.

Hogun realized what was being said and reported, "Your father is in the Odinsleep. He is alive."

"But..." the large blond's brow furrowed in confusion, "why would Balder lie about such a thing?"

Volstagg replied, "We do not know, but he has become... unstable during your absence. We need you to return and talk to him, perhaps find out what has caused this change in him."

Before Thor could answer, either to agree to return with his oldest friends or to deny them once again, there was an explosion from somewhere down the street. Exchanging worried and fearful looks, the nine men and women rushed out of the garage to see what was happening.

Mike felt his blood run cold. At the edge of town, approaching slowly, was what appeared to be a giant robot. It looked almost like a suit of armor, but it was far too large for a person to be inside and moved far too unnaturally for any living creature.

He heard one of Thor's Asgardian pals yell something about a destroyer (or maybe that was what the robot was called) but he could only watch as the faceplate opened to reveal an orange glow like fire just before a blast of energy was launched from the opening. The blast hit Izzy's place, causing the front façade to explode outward while the area beyond the blast caught fire.

"We have to get everyone out of here!" Erik shouted, and Mike found himself moving to join the older man. Jane was right there along with Darcy, and Thor turned to the other aliens (and yeah, Mike was jumping on that bandwagon in light of the most recent turn of events).

"I cannot join you in this fight," he said by way of explanation. "My powers are still bound. I will work with my Midgardian friends to get the townspeople to safety."

Fandral gave a nod. "Then we shall buy you the time you need."

He'd barely finished talking when Sif abruptly took off. Her leap to the top of a car then off of a wall reminded Darcy of parkour, but she shook the thought off to head across the street to make sure the residents of the currently not-so-sleepy town were heading for the hills like anyone with a lick of sense would be at the moment. She caught sight of Mike and Jane a few buildings down, and heaved a tiny sigh of relief that they were safe. She really did kind of love the Fosters, they treated her like the baby sister they'd never had and she thought of them like the older siblings she kind of thought she deserved to have.

The humans and Thor managed to get the residents who'd been unfortunate enough to be around main street out safely, instructing them to head towards the opposite side of town so that they could get out fast if necessary. The five of them regrouped about a block away from where Sif and the Warriors Three were trying to stop the Destroyer, and from what they could see the effort was going terribly. Sif was trying to pull herself to her feet from where she had been thrown into a car, and Volstagg was down for the count. Hogun wasn't able to get close enough to do any good, and Fandral looked very much like he was regretting his lack of a distance weapon.

Thor rushed to Sif and helped her to her feet, pulling her to where Jane was waiting; Hogan and Fandral retrieved Volstagg and hauled him over as well.

"There is little more you can do," Thor told his warrior friends, who of course protested. "It would be best to regroup briefly then try again. Jane, could you help Sif?"

The astrophysicist nodded and moved to wrap an arm around the taller woman's waist; Sif gave her a faint smile and draped an arm around Jane's waist. Volstagg was awakened and once on his feet it turned out that he could move under his own volition. The group started to head to the next block, but abruptly froze when they realized Thor was headed towards the Destroyer.

The Destroyer approached Thor slowly, kicking an overturned car aside before stopping just in front of the Asgardian. As huge as he'd looked next to the humans, he was dwarfed by the robot standing before him.

"Balder," Thor said, directing his words to the brother who was most likely the one who had sent the Destroyer, "my brother. I do not know what has caused this madness, but if my own actions were responsible in any way, I am sorry. Your quarrel is with me, not the people of this town. They have done nothing to you; do not punish them. If you need to harm someone, to kill someone, then let it be me. Leave these people alone. Please, brother."

For a moment, the Destroyer simply looked down on Thor. The orange glow faded away and the faceplate closed. The blond's tense posture relaxed ever so slightly.

Then the robot raised its arm and backhanded Thor, sending him flying into the air and crashing hard to the ground.

"Thor!" Jane screamed, breaking away from the group and rushing to where the man she was falling in love with lay broken in the middle of the street; the Destroyer turned and began to walk back the way it had come as if none of them were worth any further effort. The brunette dropped hard to her knees, barely aware that her family had followed her and were standing around the two of them. She was focused on Thor, whose breathing was coming far too shallowly for her comfort.

"Thor," she whispered, voice broken by the tears she didn't want to shed; she could feel Mike's legs against her side and sent out a silent prayer of gratitude for her little brother's presence. "Come on, get up. You can't let this beat you."

Thor didn't speak, only smiled gently and raised a trembling hand to brush her hair away from her face. Then he let his eyes fall closed and the shallow breathing stopped.

Mike drew in a shaky breath, lifting his gaze to fall on the Destroyer that was still moving away from them. Suddenly all he could see was red, anger and sorrow warring for control. He had only known Thor for a little over two days, but had already come to see him as a friend and accepted that Jane was probably going to keep him in their lives.

And now the man was gone and that fucking monster apparently controlled by Thor's own brother was the cause.

He didn't even realize what he was doing until it was done. Mike stepped around Jane, who was lying on Thor's still chest, walked three steps, and threw a punch at the air.

When his hand's forward motion stopped, the ice projectiles that had formed continued flying forward and slammed into the Destroyer's leg. The appendage froze instantly, causing the robot to turn slightly and look back.

That was right about the time Mike realized he could see his breath, like on a very cold day back at Culver, and he was inexplicably blue.

"Leaving so soon?" he asked the robot, deciding to worry about the manifestation of what he was assuming was a latent mutation sometime later. Preferably after taking a chunk out of the Destroyer so he could freak the fuck out in relative peace. "It's rude to leave without saying goodbye."

He noted that the sky was going strangely dark, and he could almost hear thunder rumbling in the distance. The weather indicators had all shown that today was supposed to be clear and sunny, but there was a storm coming out of nowhere...

Then Mike remembered his mythology and glanced up just in time to see something flying from the direction of the tent city where he'd picked up Jane only the previous night.

Thor was supposed to be the god of thunder, and he used Mjolnir to summon the storms. Mike followed the path of the hammer's flight, finding himself entirely unsurprised yet very relieved when Mjolnir slammed into Thor's suddenly raised hand.

Armor wrapped itself around the restored blond as he climbed to his feet, stormy eyes focused on the Destroyer that was partially frozen in place. He dropped his eyes to Mike for a moment, surprise flickering over his features before being replaced with something akin to acceptance. Thor's attention turned back to the giant construct that was opening its faceplate for another attack.

The god of thunder swung his hammer before the Destroyer had time to finish charging up its blast. The armor collapsed upon itself, the pieces turning inward to be burned by its own inner fire.

Thor turned to face his friends both old and new, all of whom were moving forward; he noted to himself that Michael's Jotun skin was fading back into that of a mortal, and he wondered briefly if the man didn't even know his true origins. Then Jane was throwing herself into his arms, and he caught her instinctively and held her close.

"If you ever do something that stupid again, I'll kill you," the tiny woman said through her tears, although this time they were joy instead of sorrow.

"I have no plans of dying again anytime soon," Thor assured her.

"So do you believe us now that Balder has gone mad?" Hogun asked, and unless Darcy was mistaken that was pure sarcasm. Apparently Mike (and she was so going to start calling him Brainy Smurf) noticed it too, if the small smirk and eye roll were valid indicators.

Thor frowned. "I do. We must return to Asgard immediately, I need to try and get through to him somehow."

Before anyone could make a move to find out just how the blond planned on accomplishing that feat, a black car pulled up and rolled to a stop. The front passenger side door opened, and Agent Coulson stepped out.

"Donald," the SHIELD agent said smoothly, "I get the feeling you haven't been completely honest with me."

It took about five minutes for Thor to politely decline Agent Coulson's invitation to join something he referred to as the Avengers Initiative, although he did promise to sit down and talk about the events leading up to his arrival on Earth after he'd taken care of his family business. Then he'd picked up Jane and literally flew off.

Erik shooed everyone who was still standing around minus the SHIELD agent to Jane's van, loaded them up, and headed out of town to where his unorthodox little family had first encountered their new alien friend. Unsurprisingly, Thor and Jane were already waiting; Jane grinned broadly at her little brother and mouthed that was awesome. Mike rolled his eyes and moved to stand next to her, unable to resist straightening her windblown hair.

"Heimdall!" Thor called, much like he had on the night they met. "Open the Bifrost!"

Just like that first night, there was no indication that his cry had been heard.

Fandral frowned. "He was in the observatory. Something must be wrong."

"Balder," Sif ground out. "He must have seen us leaving. That explains the Destroyer, and probably why my brother does not answer."

"Is there any other way for you to get home?" Mike asked.

Thor shook his head while the other Asgardians regarded the meteorologist silently. The four of them had had a whispered conversation while they were loaded in the van on the way to the site, but Mike had managed to ignore it. Now the staring was just starting to annoy him, especially since Robin Hood (Darcy's phrasing, also in a whispered conversation and an attempt to make him laugh) was doing most of the staring.

"The Bifrost is the only safe means of travel," Thor said, drawing the raven-haired man from his thoughts. "Father is capable of walking Yggdrasil's branches, but it is dangerous for those without training."

"How dangerous?" Jane asked, eyes bright with worry. "Because, you know, you haven't answered all of my questions yet, and you have to come back."

The wind seemed to kick up a bit as his sister spoke, and Mike glanced up to see the sky beginning to go dark. "Something's happening again, guys," he called, keeping his gaze locked on the glow that was beginning to form in the center of the dark patch. "It looks like your Einstein-Rosen Bridge, Janey."

"In the middle of the day?" Darcy asked, moving to stand next to him and look up at what he was watching.

Sif's face brightened with relief. "Heimdall's opening the Bifrost," she said before turning towards Thor. "We do not have much time."

Thor nodded and turned to Jane, bringing her hand to his lips to press a kiss to the back of it. "I promise that I will return to you, Jane. I have never met anyone like you, and I would enjoy getting to know you better if you are not opposed to it."

Jane's answer was to wrap her hands around the man's neck and pull him into a fierce, desperate goodbye kiss. Erik looked away, whistling to himself and wondering how Dean and Miranda would feel about their daughter dating an alien. Mike and Darcy bit back amused chuckles, nudging one another and both planning on teasing their big sister over her actions later.

However, Darcy was pretty sure that her unofficial big brother didn't notice that Alien Robin Hood was neither staring at the spectacle that Thor and Jane were making (like Sif, with a tiny little smirk on her face) nor looking away politely (as Hogun and Volstagg were); he was looking at Mike as he had been pretty much every second that he hadn't been fighting for everyone's lives.

If she didn't know better, she'd think Fandral was having a meeting the man of my dreams and then meeting his beautiful wife kind of moment, except without the beautiful wife and with a whole lot of heading back to my own planet and maybe never coming back again instead.

It was kind of weird.

Jane broke the kiss and pulled back, ignoring how flushed her face felt and mentally thanking Mike and Darcy for not wolf whistling or something. "I am definitely not opposed to seeing you again," she managed to say in an even voice. "Go take care of things at home, and hurry back."

Thor gave her an almost shy smile before walking over to join his Asgardian friends.

"Thor?" Mike called, waiting until the blond turned around to look at him. "Whenever your dad wakes up, tell him Loki says thank you."

"I will pass the message along," the blond promised, although he looked slightly confused by the request. Then he turned and joined the rest of his companions within the circle. It looked almost identical to the one which the scientists and their intern had seen on the night of Thor's arrival on Earth.

No sooner had they stepped inside than a golden light shot down from the sky and engulfed all five of the visitors. They were gone in an instant, although the light in the sky remained.

"I wish I had my camera," Mike said, watching the flashing lights above them. It was incredible, and he had no way to record it.

Darcy dug into her pocket and pulled out her phone before tapping the man on the shoulder. "It's not the greatest quality, but maybe you can get some with my iPhone?"

"Coulson better keep his word," Jane murmured, gaze locked on the sky as if she could actually still see Thor.

The four of them stood and watched the skies for almost an hour, Mike snapping photos with Darcy's phone the whole time. The clouds had grown thicker during that time, and blue lightning had jumped through the clouds almost constantly from the second it first appeared about ten to fifteen minutes after the Asgardians had departed. There was a chill in the air, along with the snap of electricity, yet still none of them could bring themselves to leave.

Then, abruptly, the clouds cleared away to leave only sunny skies above.

It was another five minutes before Erik spoke. "I don't think they're coming back."

Darcy silently turned and walked back towards the van; Erik followed her after giving Jane a brief one-armed hug. Jane remained where she was, gaze still turned to the sky but her expression sad. Mike moved to stand next to her, wrapping an arm around her waist and tilting his head to rest against hers. The Foster siblings remained that way for several minutes, simply taking comfort in one another as they had always done when something went wrong in their lives.

"We'll get him back, Janey," Mike finally said.

Jane squeezed her little brother's waist and shifted away. "Yes," she said, determination coloring her words, "we will."

The next several months were busy ones.

Agent Coulson had, indeed, kept his word and returned everything that SHIELD had taken from the lab; Darcy was thrilled to have her iPod back and celebrated by adding twenty new songs. Erik heard back from his friend Henry, who pretty much said congrats for getting on SHIELD's radar, you'll never be off it again, welcome to the jungle. He'd also attached a photograph showing himself, his pretty wife (and damn but they looked closer to Mike and Jane's ages than Erik's), and their new SHIELD appointed assistant.

Mike and Jane immediately called their old friend Scott Lang and chewed him out for not warning them about SHIELD.

None of the little family was surprised when Agent Coulson returned a few days after that email with another agent named Hill and informed them that SHIELD would be sponsoring their research. Any publications would, naturally, fail to mention where the monetary support came from, but that didn't bother Jane or Mike. They were both happiest when they could do what they loved, and right now they were working to find out if it was possible to mimic the effects of the Einstein-Rosen Bridge.

In short, they were going to build their own Bifrost Generator and find a way to bring Thor back.

Darcy returned to Culver for her fall semester, but managed to contact her chosen family every day. She generally complained about how much her teachers sucked and how boring everything was, and on one memorable call she announced that she was changing her major from political science to astronomy.

"I need to be able to keep up with you brainiacs somehow," she said, before immediately asking if things were smurfy on their side of the country.

Within three months of the night they met Thor, Jane and Loki published an abstract outlining a few of their findings. They discussed what the scientific community was already calling the Foster Theory of Interstellar Transfer, including some of the photos that Mike had snapped using Darcy's phone as illustrations.

Another three months passed before Erik was called in the dead of night by Agent Coulson and requested to head back to the east coast to consult on a secret project. He debated on the merits of leaving his honorary niece and nephew to their own devices, but Jane and Mike insisted they would be just fine and sent him on his way with their love and instructions to stop by Culver if he had a moment. It would do Darcy good to see one of her family without having to wait for Spring Break.

Except for the hole in their lives that Thor would have been able to fill, the Fosters were probably the happiest they'd been since losing their parents what felt like a lifetime ago.

In Asgard, life had finally returned to a semblance of normality.

Upon their return, Sif and the Warriors Three had had to rush an injured Heimdall to the healing rooms, leaving Thor to face off with Balder alone. He had arrived in his parents' chambers in time to see his brother kill the Jotun king Laufey, and had briefly wondered at Amora's presence. So far as he had known, the sorceress had parted ways with Balder long ago.

After a brief argument, in which Balder attacked Thor with Gungnir and Amora giggled as if watching a champion fight for her favor, the younger prince realized what had caused his brother's madness. Thinking and moving swiftly, he had grabbed hold of the mistletoe necklace Balder had been wearing and ripped it off; the snap of bright yellow-green magic and the haunted look that suddenly appeared in pale blue eyes was all he needed to know that the spell was broken.

Amora had shrieked in rage and blasted Thor through the wall with her own staff, then teleported away with a taunt of, "Now if you'll excuse me, your majesties, I have to destroy Jotunheim."

Thor had left Balder in their mother's care and rushed to the guardian's citadel in time to find the sorceress cutting on the Bifrost and locking it on Jotunheim. As tendrils of ice began to come through, the madwoman cheerfully outlined her plan: destroy the ancient enemy of their people, make Balder love her again, and be the queen of Asgard. Thor's return had derailed most of her plans, but she fully intended to make sure the Jotnar were annihilated.

As much as it had broken his heart to do so, Thor had been forced to destroy the Bifrost.

He had nearly tumbled to his death, but his father and brother both had appeared to catch him. Amora likewise had fallen from the bridge, only saved by catching the staff that Thor had grabbed instinctively; the woman should face punishment for her crimes, but death in the void shouldn't be the method of retribution.

She had looked up pleadingly at Balder and whispered that she had done it all for him, and it was possible that she believed her own lies. When the bright-eyed warrior could only shake his head, Amora's face had twisted into sorrowful rage and she let go.

Heimdall still could not See her to know if she lived or had perished.

Balder was recovering from the mind control slowly, only attending meals when he'd been given no other choice. Sif was trying very hard to bring him back to the warrior she'd admired as a little girl and fallen in love with as an adult, and was truly the only person Balder wanted to see aside from his family.

And Thor had only just found out why Fandral was so distracted during his brief visit to Midgard.

As a child, Fandral's family had taken him to the Norns to find out what fate was woven for him. The Ladies Three had told him that his heart lie not in Asgard nor Alfheim nor Vanaheim, but in the possession of a Jotun who was not of Jotunheim. The riddle had made no sense, and Fandral's kin had taken it to mean that their son would never wed for love.

Fandral had believed that as well, until he'd seen Michael Foster. And even then, he was certain that he was only intrigued by the human's striking looks until the moment he'd been revealed briefly as being of Jotun blood.

Thor wanted, needed desperately to return to Midgard and see his Lady Jane once more. Now he wanted to find the way back for his friend to have a chance to win his true love's heart as well.

Heimdall's news was always hopeful when it came to the Fosters. They were looking, every day, and Thor waited patiently for the day when the Guardian would tell him of their success.

Until then, he would wait.