Were he to stop and think, Thor might realize that unhooking his cape might be a prudent course of action, but it's the furthest thought from his mind, his focus too set on simply not drowning to give real strategy any attention. Unable to fly, he's forced to rely on the very same strength that propelled him down here by breaking the Bridge, but whatever progress he makes by kicking his legs, he squanders almost immediately, not quite sinking, but not getting any closer to the surface, either. Trying to move laterally instead, he gains more ground, but his movements are clumsy in the water, uncontrolled. Hitting a rock with the back of his hand after one particularly flailing gesture, he wedges both sets of fingers into a crack in what he realizes only afterward is part of a larger formation: a wall. More confident in his might than his ability to swim, he pulls himself upward. When at last he breaks the surface, planting his forearms on the rock's edge to keep from falling back in, he gulps down the fresh air with a heaving breath. His mane of blond hair is smoothed back against his head, his eyes wide and very blue.
So bewildered is he that he doesn't register who it is that's standing above him right away, despite her face being a familiar one, even after such a short time of knowing each other: Jane. Loki is a clever liar, that much goes without question, but Thor had thought him right when his brother said he'd never see her again should he destroy the Bridge. Yet here she is, looking not much different than when he saw her not so long ago, and Loki's nowhere to be found. Thor's confusion registers plainly on his face, but not before a smile's pulled at the corners of his mouth, his elation more prominent than anything else.
All things considered, Jane probably should have instantly suspected Thor, as this isn't the first time he's come tumbling from the sky in her general vicinity. Before he'd even fully surfaced, she'd recognized broad hands and strong arms, though, and quickly enough that she's mostly collected herself by the time those electric blue eyes focus on her.
Mostly. She might have flailed a little bit.
Her smile is wide and artless, reflecting not just happiness but a nearly overwhelming sense of relief. She'd not fully understood until this moment how much she'd wanted to see him again.
"I am?" he asks, his confusion slipping into his voice in lieu of his expression. His subsequent breaths are no less desperate than the first, and he swallows, thickly, between gasps, though his smile remains fixed. Kicking under the water in an attempt to find a foothold, he uses his legs as well as his arms to push himself up out of the water, trying his bed to avoid getting Jane wet, though he's not sure the effort isn't futile. Sitting heavily, now, at the water's edge, he huffs out a grunt as he settles, tearing his gaze from Jane just long enough to get a better look at where he's landed this time, requiring no explanation to realize this is as much New Mexico as it is Asgard. It's lush and green, and the air tastes humid on his tongue, tinged with salt though the water is fresh. He peers up at the pale blue sky, searching for some sign of what's happened with the Bifrost, but there's not so much as a cloud.
"God, I wish I knew," Jane replies on a laugh as she looks him over. He's dressed exactly the same as the last time she saw him, if a lot more wet, little rivulets leading out from where his cape has pooled behind him. The armor has to be uncomfortable like that, but when Jane considers how he'd look rising out of the water in nothing but a t-shirt and jeans, she thinks maybe it's better this way. Explaining the island will require a modicum of concentration.
"It's a tropical island in what I have to assume is an alternate dimension," she amends. "I've been here two weeks. We were trying to reestablish a connection with the Bifröst on our end, and at first I thought that's how I got here, but now I'm not so sure. There are people here from all over space and time, it's extraordinary but incredibly daunting."
She steps closer, rock now damp beneath her bare feet, and somehow still manages to feel inordinately small despite her need to look down at him instead of up. Even like this, his presence looms incredibly large. Her fingers itch to touch but she stays them, briefly tapping out a rhythm against her thigh instead.
"I'm guessing you weren't aiming to end up here, either, then." It ought to concern her more, and maybe it will later. Right now, though, she's just pleased he's here at all.
While Thor listens to Jane as she speaks, dimly registering that some of it makes no sense (he saw her within the past two hours, how is that has she been here for the past two weeks?), he's nevertheless distracted by trying to summon Mjolnir, one hand outstretched to no avail.
"No," he admits after a moment's delay, pulling himself to his feet so that he might look at her properly. "But Jane, the Bifrost... It's gone. My brother sought to destroy Jotunheim, I had no choice." He pauses, bowing his head, slightly. "I thought I'd never see you again."
Too used to wrapping herself in science and logic, the way he overwhelms her emotionally has always been disorienting. Jane simply isn't used to feeling this way, like there's a connection that transcends even her previous attempts at romance. That they barely know each other really only makes it worse.
She ducks her head, tucking a bit of hair behind her ear. "I was working on it," she says, her smile shy. "I knew something had to have gone wrong. We had a linkup with SHIELD's satellites and the data was really promising, I think we were really close. I was, um." She pulls a sheepish face. "I was trying to get to you. But then I ended up here."
"And now I'm here as well," he says, his smile tinged with uncertainty. Loki's whereabouts are still a concern, his words about visiting Jane still fresh in Thor's mind, but that Mjolnir doesn't come is just as worrying. He was holding it but a few moments ago, and he casts a glance to the water, wondering if the shock of the fall hadn't pried it from his hand. Even so, it should come to him. Water is hardly a worthy obstacle.
Unless, he realizes suddenly, he's mortal again. Perhaps he hadn't learned the lesson the All-Father meant to teach him, after all, perhaps all this is another test, though Jane's presence doesn't quite fit. Why she would be brought away from her home, too, makes no sense.
"Are we stranded?"
He doesn't call for Heimdall. Without the Bifrost, there's no use.
Jane's expression falls into something less jubilant and more resigned. She hates this. She hates being stuck, she hates feeling so thoroughly lost, and most of all she hates having to tell him.
"Yes." Her pride surges forward, wants her to start rattling off all the ways that she expects to fix the situation they've found themselves unwittingly in, but the truth is, she doesn't even have a workable theory yet. This isn't starting from scratch, it's practically going backwards.
She watches him for a long pause and then drops her eyes. "We might be stuck here awhile."
"Mjolnir doesn't answer," Thor says by way of reply, his brows furrowing. It's not the most natural of segues, but it's on his mind, and so it escapes his mouth, too, for Jane to hear. The armour's weight grows more noticeable the longer they stand, the nagging pull of the cape making it harder to catch his breath; the latter, however, is easier to undo, and so he does just that, letting the sodden fabric drape over his arm.
Naive of her it may have been, but she'd been hoping that wouldn't be the case. Not that she's ever minded him mortal, but a bit of that Norse god oomf definitely could be helpful.
"From what I understand, this place does that," she explains, brow knit when she looks back up to Thor again. "Any kind of unusual powers are just…gone." One more thing on a long list of phenomena she doesn't understand yet.
"I'm sorry," she adds with a furtive bite against her bottom lip. "I'm going to figure it out, I promise. I just need time."
So bewildered is he that he doesn't register who it is that's standing above him right away, despite her face being a familiar one, even after such a short time of knowing each other: Jane. Loki is a clever liar, that much goes without question, but Thor had thought him right when his brother said he'd never see her again should he destroy the Bridge. Yet here she is, looking not much different than when he saw her not so long ago, and Loki's nowhere to be found. Thor's confusion registers plainly on his face, but not before a smile's pulled at the corners of his mouth, his elation more prominent than anything else.
"Jane."
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Mostly. She might have flailed a little bit.
Her smile is wide and artless, reflecting not just happiness but a nearly overwhelming sense of relief. She'd not fully understood until this moment how much she'd wanted to see him again.
"You're late."
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"What is this place?"
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"It's a tropical island in what I have to assume is an alternate dimension," she amends. "I've been here two weeks. We were trying to reestablish a connection with the Bifröst on our end, and at first I thought that's how I got here, but now I'm not so sure. There are people here from all over space and time, it's extraordinary but incredibly daunting."
She steps closer, rock now damp beneath her bare feet, and somehow still manages to feel inordinately small despite her need to look down at him instead of up. Even like this, his presence looms incredibly large. Her fingers itch to touch but she stays them, briefly tapping out a rhythm against her thigh instead.
"I'm guessing you weren't aiming to end up here, either, then." It ought to concern her more, and maybe it will later. Right now, though, she's just pleased he's here at all.
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"No," he admits after a moment's delay, pulling himself to his feet so that he might look at her properly. "But Jane, the Bifrost... It's gone. My brother sought to destroy Jotunheim, I had no choice." He pauses, bowing his head, slightly. "I thought I'd never see you again."
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She ducks her head, tucking a bit of hair behind her ear. "I was working on it," she says, her smile shy. "I knew something had to have gone wrong. We had a linkup with SHIELD's satellites and the data was really promising, I think we were really close. I was, um." She pulls a sheepish face. "I was trying to get to you. But then I ended up here."
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Unless, he realizes suddenly, he's mortal again. Perhaps he hadn't learned the lesson the All-Father meant to teach him, after all, perhaps all this is another test, though Jane's presence doesn't quite fit. Why she would be brought away from her home, too, makes no sense.
"Are we stranded?"
He doesn't call for Heimdall. Without the Bifrost, there's no use.
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"Yes." Her pride surges forward, wants her to start rattling off all the ways that she expects to fix the situation they've found themselves unwittingly in, but the truth is, she doesn't even have a workable theory yet. This isn't starting from scratch, it's practically going backwards.
She watches him for a long pause and then drops her eyes. "We might be stuck here awhile."
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"I'm mortal again."
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"From what I understand, this place does that," she explains, brow knit when she looks back up to Thor again. "Any kind of unusual powers are just…gone." One more thing on a long list of phenomena she doesn't understand yet.
"I'm sorry," she adds with a furtive bite against her bottom lip. "I'm going to figure it out, I promise. I just need time."
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