Contains spoilers for Captain America: The Winter Soldier

This Jane-centric and chock full of Jane/Thor and fluff and domesticity, though there's some other things like discussions of magic and Team Science/The Scientists Three as well. The Pepper/Tony is pretty minor.

As far as I've been able to determine, Selvig is a name with Norwegian origins, and I don't recall that the movies ever specifically indicate Erik's heritage, so I went with Norwegian for his background (even though the actor who portrays Erik is Swedish).

As in other things I've done, I continue to roll with the notion that Allspeak lets the MCU Asgardians read other languages, which is what they imply in the first Thor movie. I am, however, using my own take on how Asgardian magic functions in a broader sense, some of which is probably outside canon.

Having Thor back was overwhelming enough that for a good ten minutes Jane's universe narrowed down to the two of them and the backyard and not much else. During that time their reunion consisted of them kissing, Thor explaining his situation to her in broken sentences, and her concocting schemes to eject everyone else from the house for at least a month. Then Darcy came out and announced there was a tray of tea and snacks in the living room and the guest of honor needed to come inside before one of the neighbors noticed there was an armored, red-caped, hammer-wielding alien getting very cozy with Jane in her backyard. Jane chalked up yet another significant interruption she owed Darcy and led Thor inside.

At Jane's direction Thor set Mjölnir on the coffee table (she had to convince him it wasn't rude at all and that coffee tables were regularly used that way) and sat down on the couch. Erik offered him a mug of tea, which he accepted with thanks and sipped from. It was hard to tell if he liked it or was being polite.

Everyone arranged themselves around him on chairs or the couch, save for Darcy, who remained standing. As she leaned over to grab a slice of cheese off the tray, she said, "So. How long are you staying for?"

Thor set his mug down. "As long as I am welcome, and I am not called to aid in the defense of Midgard or the other Realms."

"Which means, indeterminate, but, 'a while'?"

Thor glanced at Jane, and she took one of his hands in hers and said, "Yes." She might have been imagining it, but she thought Erik gave Thor some sort of Look.

Eyeing Thor's armor, Darcy said, "So you need clothes." Thor looked down at himself, then back up at her as she went on. "And toiletries. Toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, shaving kit, hairbrush, deodorant..." At everyone's surprised expressions, she explained, "I've taken in my fair share of strays."

Jane was relieved when Thor didn't seem the least bit insulted by the label. "Will these things be costly? If so, perhaps there is something I might be able to trade, or—"

Erik waved a hand, dismissing the idea. "No, no, not necessary. At the very least I can afford to buy you some clothes. Long-term, well, perhaps our friends at SHIELD would be willing to provide you with some sort of stipend."

Jane didn't voice her immediate response (that she wanted SHIELD nowhere in the vicinity of Thor), because Erik was right. Her visiting scholar's meager salary barely fed her and kept her researching; it wasn't going to be nearly enough to support Thor as well in the long run. And unfortunately, there was no way SHIELD would offer money without some sort of benefit to themselves, which meant he'd be called away to help them.

That didn't mean they had to deal with SHIELD today, though. "We can let them come to us," she said. Erik sighed.

"Yes, I suppose they will sooner or later. There's no hurry."

"We should start a betting pool on that," Darcy said.

Ian added, "He'll need an ID."

"We'll definitely need to get that from them," Erik muttered, and folded his arms.

Thor seemed to be getting more and more uncomfortable as the conversation progressed. "As long as this is not a great trouble for you."

Jane gripped his hand tightly. "It's not."

Things proceeded to happen like an avalanche at that point: slowly, almost imperceptibly, and then all at once and so fast Jane could barely keep up. Darcy and Ian went out to get Thor some necessities while he and Erik discussed the Convergence at greater length over more tea and snacks. Jane cursed Erik for not going with Ian and Darcy but took the opportunity to check her email, which had been out of control since the Convergence. By the time she was done, Darcy and Ian had returned, and Erik showed Thor to the guest bedroom so he could go through everything. While Thor showered and dressed they prepped lasagna for dinner; he came back downstairs and into the kitchen just as they were putting the pans into the oven.

He appeared deceptively normal in the light-wash denim jeans, black, cotton, button-down shirt, and dark brown boots Darcy had picked out. He'd also taken out his braids and pulled his hair into a queue. Though Jane didn't think she herself could really ever mistake his profile for anyone else's, the average person would, no doubt, think he was just a big, blond guy with a foreign name. That thought reminded her of New Mexico, and those memories merged with her recent experiences to produce some serious cognitive dissonance.

"Very nice," Darcy said, and Thor responded with a faint smile.

"Thank you. And thank you for obtaining them."

"You just helped Jane and us save the universe, I figure this is the least I can do." Darcy turned to Jane and gestured at Thor as if presenting him. "Whaddya think?"

Jane realized she'd been staring, and said, "Ah, great. Totally incognito."

Thor's smile broadened, and he looked around the kitchen. "Can I help with your preparations?"

What Jane wanted his help with was sitting on the couch, but there was a counter covered with prep cookware that needed attending to, and Darcy had made noises about making dessert.

Jane said, "Help us clean up and get the table set?" and held out a dishtowel.

Her first round of computation on the Greenwich data wrapped up that evening just after they finished their bowls of bread pudding. She took Erik to the den and sat him in front of her laptop while Darcy and Ian familiarized Thor the TV and its accompanying collection of remotes. Erik flipped through the tables and graphs, pausing now and then to mull them over.

"This is all from the sensors?" he asked.

"Yep. And judging by what everyone's saying on the mailing lists, almost no one else has readings from the focal point. And look at this." She skipped ahead to the last figure. Erik studied it, then stood up and put his hands on his hips.

"Well there's definitely something for you to publish in all of this. Maybe even a handful of papers."

Jane blinked. "Don't you mean for us to publish?" she said, and Erik gave her a chagrined look.

"I'm going to have a little trouble being taken seriously until the footage from Stonehenge is done making the rounds." He leaned down and zoomed in on a three dimensional plot, turning it this way and that. "Sadira Ramachandran has the best cluster for data analysis. She'll want a co-authorship, but if it works out, she can help you get proper space at the campus."

"Erik—"

"Jane." He straightened and put a hand on her shoulder. "Here's a chance for you to prove to everyone that they're wrong and you're right. A real event none of them can deny, and data to back it up."

Unfortunately, he was right. There was also the consideration that it would mean a lot more if Jane did at least one paper—preferably the first one—with someone who hadn't been in her corner from the get-go. That put Erik solidly out of the running. Dr. Ramachandran, on the other hand, was well-respected and also studying gravitational and spacetime phenomena.

"As long as I can make you a co-author at some point," she said. He smiled and gave her a brief hug.

"And you should make Darcy your lab manager." Jane pulled back and raised her eyebrows at him, and he shrugged. "You could do worse than someone who doesn't need an explanation about Thor."

Well, that was certainly true. Jane looked at the spread of plots and diagrams and calculations, and felt truly content for the first time in years. She had data, and she had a plan. Now she just had to put both of them to work.

Darcy was the last one to leave. She murmured, "Good luck," and waggled her eyebrows at Jane, and Jane glared at her and put extra effort into sounding sanguine when she said she'd see her first thing in the morning and shut the door. She might have closed it a little too hard, because Thor asked, "Is everything alright?" as she sat next to him on the couch.

"Never better," Jane said, and dragged him into a kiss. He was no less enthusiastic than he when he'd first stepped out of the Bifröst, and he smelled and felt incredible and she had no in any way over-estimated how good it felt to make out with him, which gave her high hopes for when she eventually managed to get his clothes off. Everything was just right, which was undoubtedly why she was struck with the idea that he was, in fact, not going to stick around. It would be so typical of her life for her to come within reach of things she'd wanted for years only to have them vanish.

She made herself stop kissing him, which earned her a puzzled look. His hand was warm against the back of her neck and he was so gorgeous just staring at her that she had to remind herself she'd wanted to say something. "Sorry, just—you're really staying, right?"

He let out a short breath of what might have been understanding and ran his thumb over her lips. "If you wish."

"I do wish." She leaned in and kissed his neck to reinforce the sentiment and was rewarded with his other hand tightening on her hip.

"Then I will stay," he murmured into her hair. She felt him go still, and he said, "Though, I would not presume to know what would be proper when courting a woman of Midgard."

Jane hmmm'd against his neck. "What's proper is, we do whatever we're both comfortable with."

He relaxed, and when she sat back so she could look at him he smiled in a way that reminded her of New Mexico, when he'd been less reserved in every possible way. "I do not think there will be a great deal I will not be comfortable with where you are concerned." The hand that had been at her neck trailed down along her back. "So I must rely on you to tell me what you are comfortable with."

Jane made a frustrated sound. She had everything she wanted, except tomorrow off.

"I should have kicked them all out the second you showed up," she said.

She had to kiss Thor to stop his laughter.