Disclaimer: I do not own Thor, nor The Avengers.

Chapter 1 – Jane and The Avengers

Jane had learned long ago that she could not stay mad at Thor over his disappearing acts. The first time he had left it was over a year before she saw him again and then only for a very short amount of time when he came to aid the then newly minted Avengers fight his brother Loki. S.H.I.E.L.D. – which, she supposed, had been a front for Hydra even back then – had tried to get her to stay away when Loki appeared and took the Tesseract along with Erik and Clint. She had been on her way to Germany to collect some iridium to stabilize the Tesseract when it happened and the moment she landed the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who accompanied her as bodyguards said she was being re-assigned immediately as another project took precedence. She'd called them on their bullshit, demanding to know the truth and refusing to run and hide when they finally told her. The Tesseract project was her baby. Ever since Fury had read her and Erik into the project and she'd discovered what the Tesseract could do she'd thrown herself into it head first. Erik was right there alongside her, but it had quickly become her project and it wasn't uncommon for her to be a couple steps ahead of everyone else, nor was it uncommon for her to forget to communicate with her team when her mind was working in overdrive, thus the reason she was already going to retrieve the iridium before Erik even knew they needed it. Between her contacts in the scientific community and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s persuasion, a German scientist was to be their source for the iridium; his only request had been for Jane to speak at a black-tie gala he was hosting. Everything went wrong from there.

Clint watched as Loki infiltrated the gathering at the National Science and Research Centre in Germany. The precious Iridium was their target and Clint had to make sure Loki was clear before his team moved in. Everything seemed to be going as planned and Loki was about commence phase one of their plan when Clint noticed something, or rather someone, in the corner of the surveillance video.

"Sir, wait!" he cried, and thankfully saw Loki halt in his tracks. "There are S.H.I.E.L.D. agents all over the assembly." Having seen one, it didn't take Clint long to locate the others.

"And what is S.H.I.E.L.D. doing here?" Loki asked quietly, not wanting to draw attention to himself just yet.

"I'm not sure. Selvig said he didn't know he needed Iridium until yesterday, so it seems impossible that S.H.I.E.L.D. could put together an operation before us. Unless…"

"Unless…." Loki trailed off, waiting for answers.

"Unless she's here." Said Clint and he scanned the video again, this time looking for a familiar female face. Loki waited impatiently for Clint to elaborate, and thankfully he didn't take long.

"Yep, it's her. Jane Foster."

"Jane Foster…" He repeated, with ideas forming. When Loki had taken Erik and Clint captive, taking control of their minds with the power of his scepter, it didn't take long for him to learn that his brother's mortal girlfriend was the lead on the project.

"Selvig works alongside her, but she's the one in charge; the expert who's always two steps ahead of everyone else. She left the base the day before you arrived. No doubt she knew she needed Iridium and came to get it before consulting the rest of her team."

"Well then…slight change of plans, Barton." Clint quickly moved into position as Loki began wreaking havoc, and scattering the guests. After he ensured Clint was inside taking the iridium, Loki followed the humans, returning to his normal form.

"Kneel before me!" he said as he used his magic to create copies of himself and surround them. "I said, kneel!" He banged his scepter on the ground, silencing the humans and frightening them into compliance. Loki talked to them about his plans for Midgard for a bit, giving Clint enough time to leave with the iridium, before getting to the point.

"Jane Foster." He said, loud and clear. "Reveal yourself and no one shall be harmed." When no one moved Loki sighed as if resigned to his next move. He pointed his sceptre at the closest person and sent a blast towards him, purposefully not killing the man, but injuring him nonetheless.

"Next time, he dies. Unless Jane gives herself up." In the crowd Clint could see the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents discretely urging the woman in front of them not to give in. However, when Loki once again pointed his weapon at his target Jane stood up. Loki smirked and lowered the sceptre, moving towards Jane.

"Miss Foster, it is an absolute pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. " He took her hand, bowed to her and kissed it, all the while never taking his eyes off her.

"You're Loki, aren't you?" She breathed, her face set in stone, though her eyes betrayed her fear.

"Indeed. My brother spoke very highly of you. I promised him I would pay you a visit should I end up on Midgard, and here I am." Jane stood silently trying to figure a way out of whatever Loki had planned for her. She knew the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents accompanying her would try to protect her, but she had no doubt they would be useless against Loki. She was proven right when she saw an agent leap up in her peripheral vision only to be immediately taken out.

"I wouldn't try anything, unless you want to end up like your friend here." Said Loki, looking far too proud given he'd just killed someone.

"Now, as I am sure you called in to S.H.I.E.L.D. for reinforcements, it is time for us to depart. Miss Foster, if you would." He said, offering her his arm and when she did not take it, he placed her hand in the crook of his elbow and began to lead her away. It was at that moment that a round object came flying at them, missing them by mere inches. Jane let out an involuntary scream and stopped in her tracks. Loki released her and spun around, sceptre at the ready, to face whoever attacked him.

"You know the last time I was in Germany, and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." Captain America said as he walked forward, shield in hand.

"The soldier. The man out of time."

"I'm not the one who's out of time." That said the Captain launched on the attack forcing Loki back and onto the defense. Jane took Loki's distraction to get away, making a run for the relative safety behind the Quinjet being piloted by Black Widow, but ended up running directly into Clint.

"Clint! Thank God!" she said, thinking she was safe with him.

"This way Miss Foster." He said, leading her away. Jane noticed that instead of leading her towards the Quinjet he was leading her away from it.

"Clint, what's going on?" she asked, stopping in her tracks and turning around. Clint didn't waste time trying to convince her; instead he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, heading directly for his ship.

"Put me down!" she yelled, pounding on Clint's back, however the former assassin wasn't phased by her punches and reached the ship, instructing the others to take off just as Iron Man arrived at the scene.

-/-

Loki was escorted to the holding cell intended for Bruce, should things get out of hand, within S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base. Nick Fury explained to him what would happen should he try to escape and Loki took great pleasure in the battle of wits that ensued.

"How desperate are you? You call on such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How desperate am I? You threatened my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill cause its fun. You have made me very desperate. And you might not be glad that you did." Loki smiled and ended the game, deciding now was the time to put his plan in motion.

"Brother." He called, knowing that Thor could hear him. "I speak now directly to you. You may wish to barter for my freedom, for I have something of yours. And unless you do as I say, she may not live to see you again." On the bridge, Thor listened to his brother and mere moments later, when Loki's words sunk in, he became instantly enraged and ran at full speed towards the holding cell. The look on the thunder god's face was enough to have Captain America, Black Widow, Iron Man and, when they passed his lab, the Hulk chasing after him, knowing he was out for blood. Within moments Thor arrived, to the surprise of Fury, and ran up to the cell, banging his fists against the glass in his anger.

"Where is she?" He roared. Loki smirked and sat on the bench, the one piece of furniture in his prison.

"Where is who?" he asked, enjoying toying with his brother.

"You know exactly of whom I speak!"

"Oh yes, the Lady Sif. I believe she is on Asgard."

"Loki…" Thor growled warningly.

"Not the Lady Sif? Then perhaps you mean our mother. I believe she too, is on Asgard. No doubt tending to the Allfather after he used all his energy to send you here."

"Jane. Where is Jane?" He all but breathed dangerously.

"Ah, you mean your little friend whom you would abandon Asgard for." He said.

"I did not abandon Asgard! I destroyed the Bifrost, the one pathway to Midgard, to stop you from destroying Jotunheim."

"Well you should not have stopped me." Loki said, standing up and walking towards Thor, all signs of play gone from his face. "I was King of Asgard and it was my right to destroy Jotunheim! What have the Frost Giants ever done except cause us pain? I would have been revered, above even the Allfather, for destroying that blithering race." Thor shook his head, a sad expression appearing on his face.

"No Loki. Destroying Jotunheim would do no good-"

"Why? Because in destroying them I would be destroying my own people? Because in stopping Laufey from ever again making war with Asgard I would be killing my own father?"

"No! Loki, whatever your true parentage you are my brother! You are Loki Odinson. Not Loki Laufeyson. Attacking Jotunheim would cause nothing but another war. Death and destruction is not the answer. I thought like you once. Run into battle without thinking. And then father cast me out. I came to Midgard. And I met Jane."

"Yes your precious Jane Foster." Loki snarled turning away from Thor and walking the length of his cell.

"Yes. Jane is precious to me." Thor said, hoping to appeal to Loki's good side. "Where is she Loki?" Loki merely laughed and all thoughts of appealing to him left Thor's mind.

"You will never find her. Just as you failed to locate where we took the Tesseract." He said mockingly. "You know, I don't remember leaving any instructions with Barton regarding Miss Foster." He glanced sideways at Thor. "Who knows what he has done with her." Thor roared in anger and pounded on the glass.

"Loki I swear, in the name of the Allfather, if she is hurt in any way…you will wish father left you to die on Jotunheim all those years ago." Loki didn't so much as flinch at his rage.

"Oh it would not be the first time I wished that. Though I do hope Barton doesn't harm her. It will be all the more fun to play with her myself." Loki smirked as Thor became more and more enraged. Outside a storm began to form, thunder and lightning crackling loudly. Thor snarled and walked around the cell to where Fury stood by the control panel.

"Open this door immediately." Thor commanded.

"I can't do that. We risk losing our only link to the Tesseract." Fury replied calmly. Thor growled and grabbed Fury by the scruff of his coat. Natasha pulled her gun out, pointing it at Thor in case things got even more out of hand.

"You will open the door. I promise you, Loki is going nowhere."

"I can't let you kill him either."

"I have no intention of killing him. He is my only hope of finding Jane. Now open the door!" Fury was silent for a few moments as if weighing his options.

"No." he said finally. Thor pushed him a way with an enraged roar. He turned to Loki and held out his hand, calling for Mjölnir. Outside, the storm worsened.

"Sir!" called Agent Hill on the comm. "We've entered a severe electrical storm. It came out of nowhere. Too much more electrical activity is going to fry us!" Loki laughed hearing the transmission.

"You might want to control your temper, brother. You wouldn't want to cause a storm so bad it destroys Midgard."

"He's doing this?" asked Steve. At that moment Mjölnir came crashing through the side of the ship, having blasted through any obstacles in its path. Thor gripped his weapon and brought it down on the cell with all his strength. The glass cracked but only barely and Tony took that as his cue to retrieve his suit.

"Even you will have a hard time breaking through. This cell was not meant to hold me, but something much stronger." Loki said, looking to Bruce. To his credit Bruce didn't react, though those nearest him could see him tense a bit. Thor raised Mjölnir for another hit when Steve rushed forward and stopped him.

"Thor this isn't the way. Destroying the cell will only set him free. And if you don't control your temper you could end up destroying Earth. With Jane on it!"

"Stay out of this." Thor growled, though he made no move to throw Steve off.

"No we wouldn't want that, would we?" said Loki, his smirk still in place. "Destroying, as you have so rightly said, only leads to pain. Imagine my pain when I don't get to play with our little Jane. And oh the plans I had for her. We were going to have so much fun, her and I." Thor tensed, for a moment frozen in place, but Loki knew his words were enough. Thor leapt into action, pushing Steve away from him, and raising Mjölnir to the sky, gathering his lightning for a powerful attack.

"Sir, the storm has peaked!" Cried Hill. "We're being hit on all sides. Another few minutes and our power levels will spike causing everything to overload and combust!" Hearing that the remaining Avengers swarmed Thor, attempting to get to him and get the hammer out of his reach.

"Thor stop! If this place explodes, it explodes with you in it!" Yelled Steve.

"You humans believe us to be immortal." Said Loki. "Now is the perfect time to test that theory, don't you think?"

"Like hell." Muttered Steve. Using all the strength his genetic enhancements gave him, he pulled at Thor's arm and managed to lower both arm and hammer, breaking off the gathering electricity. However, seconds later he was pushed away by one wide swing of Thor's mighty arm.

"Thor, that's enough!" Said Natasha, pulling out her second gun as Thor raised Mjölnir again.

"Guns." Scoffed Loki. "Human inventions that will have no effect on a god." Natasha glanced at Loki, debating whether to believe him or not.

"Well now that's not fair." Tony said, flying into the room in the Iron Man suit and sending an energy blast at Thor, knocking him over and sending Mjölnir skidding across the room. The lightning disappeared, along with the immediate threat, however the storm stayed. "That worked and this suit is human invented. Of course it was invented by me, so that could be it." Thor got off his feet and raised his arm to summon Mjölnir, however Iron Man sent another blast at him, knocking him down again.

"I'd stay down, if I was you." Tony said. "And for once just listen. This is what he wants. He wants you to lose control and destroy the ship. He also wants you to destroy Earth, or Midgard, or whatever you gods call it, he wants you to destroy it. With Jane on it!" Thor looked at him, the words finally sinking in. After a few moments he sighed and slumped down against the wall, his anger leaving him, along with the storm.

"Hill, status report." Said Fury into his comm.

"Everything's charged to full capacity, and there's some minor damage but it looks like we came out relatively unharmed, sir." Fury nodded and ended the communication.

"And I thought Banner had breathtaking anger management issues." Said Tony, taking the helmet off.

"You'll never find her now." Snarled Loki. Thor looked up at his brother. Anger once again present on his face, he stood up and approached the cell; the Avengers remained on guard.

"I will find her." He said with absolute certainty. "And when I do, you'd best hope she is unharmed, or the Allfather himself will not be able to save you." With that Thor walked out of the room, calling for Mjölnir as he went.

-/-

After escaping when Clint and some of the others he'd brainwashed attacked the ship, Loki finally had the chance to properly meet Jane and knew he would take just as much pleasure in playing with her as he had his brother. He'd not wanted Jane to be a mindless follower as Erik was, knowing it would cause more damage to have her work for him without being controlled. However, he had not anticipated just how strong of a mind she possessed and was subsequently disappointed when none of his mind-games had worked on her. With Erik struggling to figure out the final component to open the door for the Chitauri, and with Thor and the others closing in, he'd finally resorted to threatening Erik's life to gain her cooperation. Still it had not been easy and he'd only gained her help after she'd tried to call his bluff and he'd followed through, torturing Erik before her and promising a prolonged and painful death for him if she didn't do as asked. Although Jane logically knew that whatever army he brought through the door would cause more deaths than just Erik's, she had still not been able to let him die. He'd been hurt badly, though still served a purpose to Loki and so he was not left incapacitated. Loki had brought them both, along with the Tesseract, to the top of Stark Tower where Erik was setting up the device. Jane had served her use for now, though Loki was certain she'd prove useful to use against his brother later, and so found herself gagged and bound to stop her from escaping. Iron Man arrived, attempted to stop the Tesseract, shortly after the door was first opened. He knocked Erik out and when he was unable to stop the device left without ever seeing Jane. As time passed, Jane watched the door the Tesseract created get bigger as well as the monsters coming through it. She was filled with dread and remorse, but still could not regret saving Erik's life. Suddenly, Captain America arrived and attempted to use his indestructible shield to breach the energy barrier, though he fared no better than Iron Man had. Jane began frantically moving and making as much noise as she could, hoping this Avenger would find her. Luck was on her side and when the energy barrier threw the Captain's shield away it landed right at her feet. Upon seeing her, Steve immediately began to untie her.

"Dr. Foster." He said, helping her out of her bonds.

"Yeah, hi." She said impatiently. The moment she was free she ran towards the device that had started up the Tesseract.

"Can you stop it?" Steve asked, coming up behind her.

"The Tesseract is self-sustaining. It can't be stopped." She said, continuing to frantically type on the console, her eyes searching the screen.

"Then what are you doing?"

"I built in a safety feature. When I discovered the Tesseract's power far exceeded anything we have on Earth, I knew things could get out of hand quickly. The energy shield is the Tesseract protecting itself; stopping anyone from interfering with its primary purpose."

"Opening the door."

"Exactly."

"But if nothing on Earth can match its power, how do we stop it?"

"The Tesseract protects itself from external factors. It can't protect itself from itself. The safety feature channels some of the Tesseract's energy into a weapon. With it I can penetrate the shield and pierce the Tesseract, stopping the flow of energy creating the door."

"Because it can't fight against itself." Steve said, grasping onto the concept, if only barely.

"But it's not here!" Jane shouted in frustration. "Erik must have found the safety feature and deleted it."

"So what does that mean exactly?"

"I could re-create it…if I had several hours." She grumbled. "However, with the time we don't have, I'll only be able to partially channel the energy." She stopped typing and turned to Steve. "We have to hope it's strong to break through the shield." Neither of them missed the unsaid implication: if this failed, they lose.

"What do you need to make this happen?" He asked.

"Nothing I have on hand." She replied.

"Well, we're on top of Stark's building. Think he'll have what you need?" Jane nodded and stood up going to the edge and looking down to the level below where the balcony was.

"He'll be pissed I touched his toys."

"I think he'll get over it if it means he actually lives through this." Steve said. Jane laughed a little but it died on her lips when Steve swept her into his arms and jumped down to the balcony. Jane let out a scream as the feeling of free-fall took over; however, it stopped almost as soon as it started. Steve looked down at her in amusement.

"Oh, shut up." She said and began walking into the building. "And never do that again." Steve followed her, knowing she might need help. Loki wouldn't let her destroy his door if he could help it and this was their only chance of stopping those creatures. Minutes later, Jane had located what she needed and she and Steve were on their way back to the balcony and the roof when Loki appeared.

"Well isn't this nice? I'll be sure to tell my brother you're with his woman. Maybe he'll destroy you for me." Steve tensed and held his shield up, ready for battle.

"Take the stairs." He muttered. Jane nodded and took off further into the building looking for the stairs. It wasn't long before she located them and shortly after she arrived on the roof, only to find Loki already there.

"Where's Steve?" she asked, hoping he merely got knocked down and would be running to her rescue any second.

"He won't be a problem anymore." Said Loki, stalking towards Jane. "Now, be a good girl. Drop the machines and come with me. And maybe I'll let you live." He said, raising his sceptre. "You do still have a use, after all." Just before he could strike her, a body came flying at him, knocking him to the ground. Jane watched the two bodies roll around a bit before going over the edge.

"No, Erik!" Jane yelled. She ran to the edge and breathed a little easier seeing they had landed on the balcony instead of falling all the way to the ground. She just hoped Erik was only knocked out, though Loki could be dead for all she cared. Jane then ran to the Tesseract and began setting up some of Tony's toys. Once everything was ready she looked for a weapon. Her eyes landed on Loki's sceptre, which lay mere feet away. She ran to it, picked it up and nearly had a heart attack when she turned around, seeing a woman with red hair standing in front of the Tesseract.

"You all really need to stop sneaking up on people." She muttered to Natasha. "Here, hold this." She shoved the sceptre into her hands and directed her to allow the beam of energy she sent from her impromptu invention to hit the weapon.

"Done!" Jane cried a few second's later. "Shove it into the Tesseract!" Just as Natasha was about to do as she was told, Tony came over the comm telling them to hold on. They understood why when they saw Iron Man fly by with a nuclear missile, heading straight for the door. After going through, Natasha waited for a bit before following Steve's order to close the door. At the last minute Iron Man fell through and the creatures dropped dead as the bomb exploded at the other end of space. The two women breathed a sigh of relief until they saw that Tony wasn't slowing down. Thankfully the Hulk saw the same thing and saved him at the last minute. Finally the battle was over.

"We did it." Breathed Jane.

"You figured out how to stop it, Dr. Foster." Said Natasha. "Your girlfriend's really something Thor." Both Thor and Jane perked up hearing the other's name and it wasn't long before Thor came flying to the top of Stark Tower.

"Jane!" He cried, pulling to him, her small frame fitting perfectly into his large one.

"Thor." She sighed, basking in the feeling of once again being in his arms. Both had tears in their eyes, though the thunder god tried to hide his, as they pulled apart enough to look at each other.

"Your hair's gotten longer." Jane muttered a smile plastered on her face.

"And you're shorter than I remember." Jane swatted his arm playfully before pulling him down for a kiss. Thor did not complain one bit, and a slightly sickened Natasha left the two alone and joined the others inside the building to confront Loki. He was still passed out from his beating from the Hulk and came around just in time to see Thor arrive, with Jane tucked protectively into his side.

-/-

After securing Loki and the Tesseract, everyone gathered to say goodbye to the two Asgardians, one of whom they could not wait to see the back of. The Avengers all had their eyes on Loki as they allowed Thor to say goodbye to Jane.

"You really have to go don't you?" she asked sadly.

"Indeed I must. But fear not for we will be reunited again soon."

"But with the Bifrost gone, and now the Tesseract-"

"There are other ways. The Allfather made it possible for me to come when I was needed, and he will do so again should I be needed once more." Jane nodded, though didn't like the sound of them only seeing each other when Earth was in peril. "Besides, the Bifrost is being rebuilt."

"What…?"

"The Bifrost was created many thousands of years ago by my ancestor, the Allfather at the time. As such it can be rebuild. I will not lie, it will take time as the current Allfather is no longer the young man he was."

"I don't think anyone who's centuries years old could be considered young." Thor laughed and brought his hand to cup her face.

"Heimdall and I are helping him. Between the three of us, it should not be too much longer." Jane brought her hand up on top of his, holding his hand to her cheek.

"I'll keep looking for another way from this end."

"I know you will." Said Thor. He took her hand in his and brought it to his lips in farewell. Jane sighed.

"You think you'd learn." She breathed and wrapped her arms around his neck, his arms going around her waist automatically. They kissed right there in front of everyone and only broke apart when it became hard to breathe.

"I will return for you. Wait for me?" He asked, a hint of vulnerability in his voice.

"Always." She replied. With one last look they broke apart and Thor joined Loki, taking the Tesseract from Fury, and together they departed for Asgard. She'd only had mere minutes with Thor before they'd said goodbye once more, but it had been enough to know her feelings for him were still strong, as were his for her, thankfully. Her logical mind still couldn't grasp how she could feel so strongly for him after only knowing him for a couple of days, but she had simply come to accept it as something in the human psyche that couldn't be explained. It helped, of course, that her father had told her many times he'd felt the same for her mother after just their first meeting. Dr. Richard Foster had been the reason she had become an astrophysicist and was one of the most intelligent and highly respected scientists in the world, holding more than one doctorate in more than one discipline, and yet even he could not explain love better than that it simply was. In the months to follow, that feeling for Thor combined with her own love of science and the desire to actually create an Einstein-Rosen Bridge saw her continue to work on the project even though the Tesseract had been taken back to Asgard. She was determined to see him again.

A/N - A short under 10 chapter fic of Thor/Avengers with Jane included. I love Natalie Portman and thought she was great as Jane in Thor, but when The Dark World came they kind of just screwed her character, not really doing much with her, and now she's not even going to be in Ragnarok. Jane is basically the most underdeveloped, underrated and forgotten recurring character in the MCU until they finally just gave up on her and I didn't like that, so this is what my brain came up with to fix it.

This fic starts with Jane being included in The Avengers (obviously) and will continue until after Ragnarok, though not into Infinity War. Most of the fic takes place during Ragnarok and is partially based on the trailer and what little we know about the movie, though there's obviously big differences. It's also mainly based on the MCU, though with elements from the comics as well as Norse mythology (please note though that I haven't actually read the comics, nor much into Norse mythology, so that's all basically from Google/Wikipedia), and of course my own imagination. As such there may be times something not in the MCU pops up, or is greatly changed, and has you saying "what the hell?" At those times do kindly remember that this is a fanfic.

Timeline:
Thor to The Avengers: 1 year
The Avengers to The Dark World: 1 year
The Dark World to Age of Ultron: 6 months
Age of Ultron to Civil War: 1 year & 4 months
Civil War to Ragnarok (this fic): 3 months

Those are the movies that really affect this fic, but do assume that the others ones like Iron Man 3 and Winter Soldier still did take place. Also Doctor Strange took place sometime between Age of Ultron and Civil War, though closer to Civil War.

Review please!