InsaneJournal

This was … not good. Only it was good. Thor was genuinely happy to see Jane, despite their break-up. It hadn’t even been much of a falling out, and there’d only been a bit of yelling. But he’d known something like that was coming, and Jane deserved far better than a man who was never around.

In his talks with some of the other travellers, he’d come to think that there was always second chances. Everything was random and couldn’t be predicted, so he just went with it. At least until he returned to his search with his brother.

Of course, Thor tended to go with whatever-it-was anyway, but he was a lot more shrewd and intelligent than a lot of people thought. He was also nervous, not that he’d ever admit it. Clasping his hands behind his back, he stared out the window at the nebula. He cut a fine figure in a simple too tight white tunic and starfleet issue pants.

Jane had spent a good five minutes trying very hard not to hyperventilate, mainly because she didn’t do things like that. She didn’t get tongue-tied or sappy-eyed or any other thing that meant a guy was getting to her, and she didn’t hold onto things that she lost.

Except now - it seemed that she did. Despite Darcy’s assertion that it was the muscles, Jane knew for a fact that there was so much more to Thor than what met the eye - though that wasn’t something she could easily overlook, either. She honestly wasn’t sure whose idea it had been to break up, but eventually she’d realized that it was the best thing to do. He had an entire world to rule, and people to fight, and a throne to protect. And she...had her work. They never would have worked out on a long-term basis - she knew that logically - but she still couldn’t help missing him desperately, despite all that.

Using her PADD, she made her way to the observation deck once she’d finally composed herself, and mentally rehearsed what she’d say to him. A lot had already been said, like ‘hi’ and ‘how are you’ and she wasn’t really sure what else there was to say, but...she wasn’t going to hide in her quarters and ignore his presence. She couldn’t. After a firm nod as she reached the door to the observation area, she blinked as it whooshed open in front of her, and she stopped, staring for a moment at the man who was outlined by outer space itself.

In fact, she stood there so long that the doors were about to close again when she blinked out of her reverie and stepped in, swallowed, then called out a little too loudly. “Thor….hi.” She wore the clothes she’d had on back before arriving on the ship - dark green slacks that had been chosen only because they had extra pockets and a dark blue plaid flannel shirt that was half unbuttoned, showing a pale grey undershirt. “How are you?” That part was added lamely, and she mentally kicked herself for it.

“...You don’t have to answer that.”

It would be pretty awkward to ignore each other. And Thor wasn't one to hide. But he also respected Jane, and wanted the best for her, whether or not he was in her life. But it looked like he'd be in her life again, and he'd just have to deal with it. He doubted she was interested in rekindling things, and with how transient travellers were, he wasn't sure if that was a good idea, or a bad one.

He turned at the sound of the door, a genuinely happy smile on his face. Thor had to stop himself from giving her a more physical greeting. Even a big bear hug was probably unwelcome. He rubbed the back of his head. "I think we already got that part out of the way. You look ... nice."

It was said with complete honesty.

His smile instantly drew an answering one from her, unable to help it. She honestly missed the days when the first thing he’d do would be to hug her or - better - kiss her, and when he just stood there, Jane had to mentally shake herself so that she would walk away from the door and make her way over to him.

“So do you. I’m glad you’re alright. How’s...everything at home? In Asgard.” Of course he knew where she meant, but Jane couldn’t help but emphasize the point, mostly to remind herself of just why they were no longer together.

He did reach out, his hand touching her shoulder briefly before he caught himself and dropped his hands to his sides. Shifting uneasily on his feet, he tried not to stare overly long at her. "It was not looking good. The Allfather is missing. Loki and I were going to search for him when I was brought here. I was also investigating the sudden resurgence of the Infinity Stones."

Which also revealed that Loki was alive, but he saw no point in hiding that. Or hiding anything from Jane.

Her head turned a little when he touched her, and she had to hide her disappointment when he drew his hand back. Thankfully - or not, really - his words distracted her from her emotions and Jane took a step closer, eyes widening in surprise.

“Loki - he’s alive? And there are more stones?” Automatically, she wanted to ask about the Aether, because the thought of coming in contact with it again was somewhat terrifying, but he’d promised that it was far from Earth.

"Yes." Thor nodded, folding his arms or lack of anything else to do. Otherwise he might have hugged her anyway. Thor was a hugger anyway, but with "his" humans it was even harder to resist. Jane mostly.

"The aether, space and the mind stones weren't the only ones to come to light in recent years," he explained. "The power stone was discovered as well. It's only a matter of time before the last, and if they're all brought together the consequences for the galaxy could be disastrous."

That two of the four were locked away in Asgard did not sit well with him. They should have separated them.

“What about Loki? What happened there?” She was glad, for Thor’s sake, that his brother was alive even if she didn’t really like the man very much. “And what happened to your father?”

Thor's lips turned into a thin line. "He tricked me. As he always does. Pretended to be Odin. But it was he who came to me about our father being missing. I am certain he is lying about some things, but I don't think he had anything to do with that."

Jane gave a nod, and couldn’t help it when she stepped forward to hug him. Honestly, avoiding it altogether was stupid - they had been together for a while and they still cared about one another. Why should they avoid touching, and supporting each other?

“I’m glad he’s alive - but I’m sorry your father is missing. I wish there was something I could do to help.”

His arms folded around her almost immediately. And if the hug lingered a little too long, so what? It hardly meant anything. She was still important to him, and he still cared about her. “I’m sure you could think your way into a solution, but there’s naught we can do from the Enterprise.”

Leaning back, Thor smoothed his hands down the side of Jane’s head, looking at her (really, really looking at her) as if for the first time. “It’s so good to see you.”

When his arms wrapped around her, Jane couldn’t help but close her eyes. She’d missed him so much - the only problem was that when they’d been together, she’d missed him even when he was around. Not that she blamed him, considering all the weight on his shoulders. But it just hadn’t worked out.

That didn’t mean she wasn’t a little disappointed when he leaned back, and Jane kept her arms loosely around him as she opened her eyes to meet his. She smiled a little, then told herself to relax and the smile warmed. “You too, Thor,” she replied. “I’ve missed you.”

Even without being the King of Asgard, Thor had a lot on his shoulders. The fate of the world, of the nine realms and the galaxy as a whole often troubled his thoughts.

There'd been a time when none of that would have bothered him, when it wouldn't really have mattered. But then he wasn't a good person. Jane and Darcy and the people of Earth had changed that and he much liked who he was now.


"And I you. I'm sorry. About everything."

“You don’t have to apologize. There’s just...too much in both of our lives. As much as I wish things had gone differently, it was for the best in the end.” But she hadn’t expected to ever see him again, and her hands held onto his sides, unwilling to let him go. “I’m just glad you’re okay. And that you’re here. I guess it’s pretty fitting that I go into space for the second time and you’re here,” she said, giving a soft chuckle - though it had an edge of nervousness.

Jane had the occasional habit of talking too much when she was nervous, and that was happening at the moment. Just looking into his eyes made her a little nervous - which was familiar at the same time, and not really anything she minded too much.

It was an adorable habit, and under other circumstances he might have teased her about it. But he smiled instead, and let her ramble on. It was good to hear her voice and see her face, and he hadn't realized how much he'd missed her. She hadn't been his first brush with love, but she had been the most positive.

"I'm reluctant to show you the labs, I might lose you again."

Okay so a little teasing.

The thing was, Jane knew he was letting her ramble, and between that and the way he kept staring at her, she knew she was probably bright red by now. She made an effort to calm herself down, and his words distracted her, letting her smile again.

“If they’re anything like I’m expecting, I might be okay with getting lost in there...but I think you’ll be able to find me if that happens.” It was getting a little intense and a little warm, and Jane took a deep breath, then peeked over his shoulder a little. When she saw the sight, her mouth dropped open in shock, eyes widening at the sight.

“Wow.”

"We'll have to make sure you spend time elsewhere. Like eating." Thor wasn't the only one to let his other life take over. While Jane wasn't split between two worlds, she'd never really had a good work-life balance as far as he could tell through the cultural differences.

He stepped out of the embrace, placing a hand on the small of Jane's back to guide her closer to the window. He knew that look. It was a look that made him suddenly jealous of Space.

“I eat. I just don’t eat on a schedule,” she muttered, but there wasn’t any bite to it. She’d had the same conversation with Darcy too many times to count. Right now, though, she let him nudge her over to the window, smiling a little as she stared outwards. “Wow,” she said, repeating herself, then shook her head, trying to collect her thoughts.

“I know what you showed me on Asgard, and I’ve looked through hundreds of telescopes, but this…” Jane lifted one hand to the window, then lifted her gaze a little and caught his eyes in the faint reflection. “I never imagined it would look like this.” Or that she’d see it so vividly.

"I'm sure you do." Thor grinned. He may have not had it as much as she had with Darcy, but it was a familiar one.

"This time, you're here. With your own two eyes and nothing between us and the endless vacuum but this transparent metal." He rapped his knuckles on it. It was the thing that impressed him most about the Enterprise, if he was honest. Besides not needing jump points.

“I wish I had a camera,” she mused, though she didn’t think it would do this sight justice. She reached out to catch his hand before he could draw it back, and gave it a soft squeeze. “I’m glad I’m here. And that you’re here. And that this is here.” Jane gave a laugh, stepping right up to the view and nearly bumping her nose on the transparent material.

“I might be in love with this view.”

"Yes, it's quite stunning." Thor smiled at her, eyes still lingering on the scientist and not the nebula.

"The ship is not at warp now, but that's also an interesting sight. Very different from the Bifrost, or the jump drives used outside the Nine Realms."

Once, when he was younger, he, Sif and the Warrior's Three had cobbled together a functional jump drive. They'd ended up obliterating Thor's room.

“I can’t wait to see it,” she said, still staring outwards. Finally, she pulled her eyes away and turned to him, her smile softening as she studied him. It was hard to tell which view she liked better, really - the stars or the god she was still desperately in love with, even though a part of her wished she wasn’t.

“What can you show me next?” She asked it with stars still in her eyes, utterly happy to share this moment with him.

“Anything you want." He flashed another grin at her. "Or the astrophysics labs. There's the lounge, which has a view out the front of the ship. The telescopes, or the holodeck."

He was quite taken with the holodeck. Jadzia had shared her calisthenics program, which was basically bladed combat. It was a lot of fun, even if he'd had to ramp the difficulty up to god-like.

“I want to see it all,” she said with a laugh, but she knew just how true it was that she’d probably end up staying in the labs and lose track of time. “How about you decide?” It saved her from having to make a choice between too many things that sounded intriguing, and it meant that they could probably spend even more time together.

And there was nothing wrong with that at all.

"The holodeck," He decided. As a bonus, it could show them anything they wanted though his attempts to recreate Asgard had thus far not been satisfactory. It might fool most people, but not him. He could see all the wrongness immediately.

Jane smiled and after a moment she let go of his hand in case they were touching too much. “Alright. Lead the way,” she said, after one last glance out the observation window.

Once she was finally torn from the view, Thor led her out of the Observation Deck and to the turbolift. It was a quaint little elevator but he always liked the little rush it gave him. He wasn't sure anyone else actually felt it.

"The technology isn't from this time, I'm told. The basics exist, but one of the crewmembers is from their future, and put it together. To help remind people of their homes." There was a note of sadness in his voice.

It was telling just how distracted she was by Thor that Jane wasn’t really all that observant of the turbolift the way she’d been on the way to meet him. “It creates...truly holographic images? Do they feel real or do your hands pass through them?”

"They're as solid as I am." Since he was sure she'd be interested in the technology behind it, he added. "It uses shielding technology to mimic the resistance of a solid object. I haven't figured out how they can make skin actually feel like skin yet."

He took Jane's hand, running his fingers over the top of it. "It feels just like this."

“That has to be impressive technology, she admitted, shaking her head a little. She almost asked just how he knew that skin actually felt like skin - but that wasn’t any of her business. Jane knew she had no right to ask about that kind of thing. The stern mental admonishment was interrupted when he took her hand, distracting her. As she looked up into his eyes, it felt as though her heart turned over in her chest, and she swallowed.

“I...can’t wait to see it,” she said at last, trying very hard not to stammer.

"Of course." He gave her a beaming smile and while he probably should have let go of her hand it was entirely too convenient to pull her her after him.

Luckily, the holodeck wasn't in use, and only then did Thor let go of her hand. "What do you want to see, Jane? From Earth, or this galaxy?"

Jane didn’t mind one bit that he kept hold of her hand until they reached their destination. Once there, she glanced at the door, then back to him. “I’m not sure where to start...aside from wanting someplace other than Earth. Why dream small? Is there a planet in the database you like?”

Thor thought about it for a moment, then keyed something into the controls. "Let us see if this lives up to your standards."

The door swished open, revealing a stunning vista. It was a rainforest, a cliff overlooking a massive bay, the water shimmering like emeralds. The sky was violet, an orange sun setting. A breeze came through the door carrying a tropical scent.

For the third time since she’d first seen Thor on the observation deck, Jane’s eyes widened. Slowly, she stepped in, gazing around. “This is incredible,” she said after a moment, a smile breaking out on her face. Reaching out, she touched a leaf and blinked in surprise. It feels so real…”

He was really enjoying making Jane's eyes widen. It wasn't actually him doing anything special, but he was at least grateful to witness it.

The door swished behind them, revealing the forest descending into a crater or valley. Strange animals called in the distance. It really was the first of their technology that really impressed him. "It's like we're really here. Wherever here is." He scratched his jaw. "I didn't really look."

She let out a laughShe let out a laugh, not really surprised at that, and shook her head as she looked over at him. “Of course you didn’t,” she said fondly, studying him a moment. Quickly however, her eyes were drawn back to the view, and she fearlessly walked out to the edge of the cliff and looked down at the water below.

“We’re...in a room, right? So if I step off here, I wouldn’t actually fall?”

"The images move with us," Thor explained. "You could fall, but the safeties would prevent any injury." He reached back, where the door should have been but his hand passed through air. "I once flew for an hour through here, and it was as though I were traveling for miles. They've programmed adventures! Flying fighters, reliving history, mystery novels!"

He'd discovered he really liked the mystery novels.

Jane stopped at the very edge and looked back at him again, watching him wave his hand. It was fascinating that the door was somehow gone, and she blinked at his next words, then smiled.

“It all sounds amazing - and I’m betting this would be a huge help in research. You can actually study a star’s surface here without being burned, couldn’t you?”

It was a great idea, one that Thor was sure Starfleet had considered at least a little bit. "Feed the system readings from the ship's sensors, and replicate the conditions here."

He watched her, expression almost adoring. "I think it might only be limited by imagination, and your ability to tell the computer what you want."

“Hopefully I’ll be able to do that soon,” she said absently. After one last look at the view, Jane then walked into the nearby trees a little ways, touching and studying absolutely everything. Her eyes were taking on a familiar focused edge - though she was still fully aware that he was behind her. How could anyone at all not feel Thor’s presence when he was nearby?

He wondered if there were strange creatures here. A dinosaur would be fun to ride - they were the closest thing he'd heard of from Earth to some of the more interesting wildlife from other planets. It was a pity they were extinct. But probably also a good thing considering humanity's greed.

Thor watched her move, a dumb grin on his face as his mind moved from dinosaurs to Jane. She had a certain look when she was studying something and he'd missed that.

Reaching out to a floral plant, she hesitated, then plucked one of the flowers and brought it closer to her face to study it and sniff curiously. Finally, Jane turned back to Thor, still curious. “This is all created by some kind of emitter, right? So if we tried to take something out of this room, it would...disappear?”

On at least one episodeworld somewhere, sniffing that plant would have knocked Jane out and possibly killed her. But it was just the holodeck, and this world was relatively safe. Thor watched her for a moment in silence before realizing she'd asked something. "I think it would disappear."

She smiled a little as she waited for him to speak, and when he finally did, she gave a small nod, looking down at the flower. “That’s a shame,” she said sincerely. Jane set it on the ground, then met Thor’s eyes. “Thank you for showing me this.”

He was distracted again. Not that Jane had managed to make him speechless with a flower or anything. That would be absurd. Thor rested his hand on Jane's bicep, squeezing lightly. "I'm glad it was me. It's always a joy to see the wonder in your eyes."

Jane swallowed hard at the touch, unable to look away from him. She wanted nothing more than to let everything go back to the way it had been before, and at the moment it was difficult for her to remember why that shouldn’t happen. Her other hand lifted to rest lightly on top of his as her smile grew.

“We should...continue the tour?” Or not. They could stay there. She’d be happy with that too.

Thor remembered very clearly. The hurt had been clear on her face, and all he could offer were excuses. They were true and mostly out of his control, but they'd still been excuses. He couldn't even promise her he wouldn't leave this time - he'd watched others grapple with friends and lovers being snatched away. Best to leave it at friends. "You should see the labs. If we're going to lose you to your passion, we might as well get started now."

Her smile faded slowly, and a moment later Jane let her hand fall away as she nodded. She wanted nothing more than to stay with him really, but there was still more to see, and Jane could only hope that she could help out the ship in general. It wouldn’t be smart to jump back into things with Thor, though right now she wished she wasn’t thinking quite so much.

"Door!" Nothing happened and Thor frowned. He shook his head. "Of course, it is not that simple. Arch."

The door appeared nearby, and Thor added. "End program."

The forest was replaced by a black and yellow grid, a square room that was much smaller than it had seemed. Thor headed out, and then waited for Jane to exit as well. The ship might be quaint, but that technology was marvelous.

Jane let out a soft sigh as the environment around them disappeared from view. After one last look around the room, she headed for the door herself and stepped out, watching it close behind her. Glancing back at her ex, she started down the hall with him towards the turbolift again. “Have you spent a lot of time in the labs? How does the galaxy match up with the Nine Realms?”

Science was a safe topic. Right?

"Not as much time as others, but I wanted to understand how they did things, and to compare it with our world." It added a third layer for Thor to track. Asgard and many of the Nine Realmed viewed science and physics one way. Midgard viewed it another way. And the Enterprise a third way.

“What do you think of their records and observations?” Aside from the fact that she liked listening to him, she truly did value his opinion. He wasn’t just a pretty face and nice set of muscles to her - though of course that helped - he was intelligent and insightful, and Jane enjoyed talking to him about her passion.

"Very thorough. This ship might be armed like a warship, but most of it is designed around sciences. There are labs for everything you could possibly think of, from biology to quantum mechanics. Research stations and they have a schedule for using the best long range sensors." He leaned on the wall of the turbolift once they were back inside. "While there is much to improve upon, the Enterprise is a floating lab."

He flashed a grin. "Listen to me. I sound like one of Midgard's brochures."

“It sounds like my kind of place,” she said dryly, following him into the lift and absently wrapping her arms around herself. “Darcy’s already put a limit on my time in the labs, but it sounds like I’ll need to decide if I want to be in one the whole time, or divide my attention between different ones.” It was clear she was getting excited about the work. “I can’t wait until I’m in front of a whiteboard again.”

"Try them all," Thor suggested. "See where your skills are most useful, and see where you have the most fun. And then focus on those areas." His smile was about as closed off as Jane's posture. "At least there is something for you to do on board. I find myself rudderless."

“I will - I already jumped onto the astrophysicist team for studying the way we were all brought here.” Sympathy entered her eyes as she met his gaze. “I doubt you’ll be that way for long. And maybe this way you’ll have the chance to explore some interests you don’t always get to on Asgard.”

"Do you think there's a chance to discover what's causing it? Or a way to go home?" Thor ignored the rest of what she said - he didn't think there was anything for him to explore so he hadn't really looked into it. The Infinity Stones and his father missing weighed on him, even if he hid it well from most people.

“I don’t think anything is impossible,” she replied, before going on. “All we have to do is work through the data, and it’ll come together. It’s all math in the end, and that’s constant, at least. It just might take some time.” She was speaking pretty confidently for someone who hadn’t seen any of the collected data yet.

"Time is something we don't always have the most of." Thor sounded reflective, his gaze seeming to look farther than the end of the hallway.

There were more crewmembers in this part of the ship, and he moved behind Jane to keep the other half of the hallway free. His hand brushed her back.

“...Unfortunately, you’re very right about that.” As they walked down the hall, she studied those they passed with interest, though she was also consciously aware of Thor being only a couple of feet away. “How far down is the lab?” She asked it since he was behind and to distract herself from other thoughts.

They turned a corner. "Right here."

The labs were arranged through mostly open doors and glass, officers milling about or working on various experiments. Machines beeped and trilled, and Thor was positive Jane would feel right at home.

She stopped by the glass, staring for a long moment, then slowly broke into a bright smile and headed in through the nearest set of doors. “Yeah...I think I’m going to like being here.”

Thor laughed, a booming sound that drew the attention of several of the officers inside the labs. He looked at Jane, eyes twinkling, then looked back into the lab. "Attention! I'd like to introduce Jane Foster, one of the premier astrophysicists of my world."

Jane’s eyes widened as Thor spoke up, just barely resisting putting her hands over her face, even though she wanted to smile at the fact that he was bragging about her. Shaking her head at him, she gave the room a slightly sheepish smile. “Uh - hi. I’m going to be working here. Very soon.” Already, her eyes were drifting to the various monitors and displays, itching to go ahead and take a look.

One of the officers, a woman nearly as tall as Thor, with a pattern of spots running down the sides of her head. She gave Thor a little wink, then offered her hand to Jane. "Welcome to the science department, Jane Foster. I'm Lt. Dax. Whenever you're ready to get to work you can report to the officer in charge at the moment. Which is me today."

Thor, meanwhile, was just beaming and looking exceptionally pleased with himself.

“It’s nice to meet you, Lieutenant,” Jane told her politely, shaking her hand. She itched to ask about the spots, but instead her eyes were caught by a display behind her, showing data about the portal. “I’m definitely looking forward to starting here as soon as possible.” With a visible effort, she pulled her eyes away and let go of the woman’s hand.

"I think you'll fit right in." Jadzia grinned, and glanced at Thor. "Why didn't you say she was so pretty?" To Jane, she added. "All he talked about was your mind."

Thor coughed, gently taking Jane by the elbow to extricate her before Jadzia got really embarrassing.

The compliments didn’t actually faze Jane all that much, but she did glance one last time at the work others were doing before she let Thor take her back into the hallway. “Okay, I can see why I can’t live in there now,” she said absently - a throwback to her conversation with the Captain and Darcy.

"There's a cot," Thor said. It was probably not a good idea to tell her that, but it was the truth and it made some sense. Some research could make for long nights and need babysitting. That was true in any century.

"But you shouldn't live in it."

“I won’t,” she said, then gave him a small smile as they walked back towards the turbolift. “You mentioned something before, about getting food?”

“The mess hall it is! Though you can replicate your own coffee in your quarters.” He hesitated, then put his arm around Jane’s shoulder. “It’s free. But I’ll buy.”

“Replicate coffee….so it’s available anytime?” That was a relief to hear, especially since sometimes Darcy ignored her when she asked for another cup. When his arm draped around her, she glanced up at him, then smiled a little. “I’ll accept.”