There's a phone call Jane needs to make.

Jane stared blankly at the computer screen in front of her, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't concentrate. It wasn't something fun like Thor distracting her either; it was this mess with Darcy. She still couldn't believe her aunt and uncle would just give up their granddaughter. Especially without Tony's express permission. Why not try to find her father at least? Why give her up at all?

"Your mind is racing, my love," remarked Thor, his large hands coming to rest on her shoulders. Gentle as could be, he lightly pressed against her skin in a soothing motion that resembled a massage.

Immediately, some of the tension eased from Jane's shoulders, though not all of it. It wouldn't all dissipate until she had answers. She just wasn't sure how to approach this topic. It wasn't like she wanted to call up her mother and just tell her she'd found her long-lost cousin. For one thing, she wasn't sure how Darcy would feel about Jane telling anyone in her family she'd found her cousin. For another, she didn't want to get Tony in trouble.

"Beautiful Jane, speak your mind," insisted Thor, his deep voice a gentle rumble she could feel as much as she could hear it. She wanted to just wrap herself in that voice and forget any of this was happening.

Tipping her head back against his chest, she blinked up at the god she'd some how gotten lucky enough to snag. This man who was willing to work so hard to protect her, who clearly cared for her. Loved her. She could talk to him.

Sighing, she reached up and ran a hand over his bearded cheek and chin. "It's Darcy."

"You are concerned for her?" questioned Thor gently. "I can assure you, my brother will allow no harm to befall her."

"I know," assured Jane. "He doesn't exactly hide the fact that he's completely in love with her. Allowing someone to threaten her is out of the question for him."

"Then what plagues your mind?" asked Thor, his arms sliding down to wrap around her waist. "What is the problem that is weighing so heavily upon you."

"I'm thinking about calling my mom and asking about Darcy's adoption," admitted Jane quietly, her fingers sliding down one of Thor's arms to rest over his large hands. "But I just...I don't want to upset Darcy any more than she already is and I'm afraid if I call my mom and ask, she'll know something is wrong."

Nodding slowly, Thor pressed a kiss to Jane's temple. "I believe that you must do what you believe to be right. You are very wise, my dear Jane. If there is one who can ask the questions that must be asked, it is you."

"Thank you, Thor," whispered Jane softly before she leaned up and kissed him slowly, her decision made.

"Hello?"

The familiar voice of Jane's mother, Madison Foster, echoed clearly through the line. Even though Jane still felt nervous about this whole matter, hearing her mother's familiar voice soothed part of her mind regardless. "Hello, Mom?"

"Jane!" greeted Madison Foster happily. "How are you doing, sweetheart?"

Jane shrugged a little as she stared out the window of the mansion's living room. "I've been better. This week has been a little rough for everyone."

"I'm sorry, Jane," apologized Madison gently. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Wishing she'd allowed Thor to stay with her while she made this call, Jane closed her eyes and spoke. "No, not really. I actually called because I wanted to ask you about something."

"Ask away, Jane," replied Madison. "You know you can ask me about anything."

Nodding, even though her mother couldn't see it, Jane took a deep, fortifying breath. "What happened to Nancy's baby?"

Her question was met with silence from Madison. Though Jane imagined a lot of the silence was shock, she thought there was some guilt mixed in, too. They never talked about Nancy, ever. Mostly because something about Nancy's death created an elephant in the room.

Madison sighed heavily over the ear piece before she spoke again. "Why are you asking?"

"I can't say," replied Jane. "But I need to know, what happened to her baby?"

"Jerry and Melody gave her up," stated Madison with a sigh.

"They just gave her away without even asking if anyone else in the family would take her?" growled Jane. "I know Aunt Sofia would have raised her."

"No one liked what they did, Jane," cut in Madison. "We all thought they should have kept the child themselves or allowed someone else in the family to raise her, but they just signed the adoption papers at the hospital the same day Nancy died and never looked back. No one was happy with what they did, but we can't undo the past."

Dropping onto a sofa, Jane groaned. "Why did they give her up? I don't understand."

"They saw her as a reminder of their daughter," explained Madison. "They wanted Nancy to abort from the beginning but she refused. Instead, she had the baby and died doing so. She never named the father either, so it wasn't like they could give her to her father."

"Tony Stark," muttered Jane with a sigh. She hadn't been planning to tell her mom about Darcy, but knowing that only her aunt and uncle had been involved in giving Darcy changed things. Besides, her mother barely spoke to the rest of the family, so it was possible wouldn't say a word about this to anyone.

"What about Tony Stark?" asked Madison. Jane could hear the furrowing of her mother's brow in her voice.

"Tony Stark is her father," replied Jane quietly, pulling her knees up to her chin. "Her name's Darcy Lewis, formerly Darcy Finche."

"Darcy Lewis...you're intern?" questioned Madison, shock infusing her voice. "Are you sure, Jane?"

"Yeah," confirmed Jane. "Our place of work ran a DNA test for security reasons. She came up as a match to Tony Stark and myself."

For a moment, there was silence over the phone line. Then, a soft sob. "What is she like?"

"She's amazing," replied Jane quietly. "You've heard me talk about Darcy. She's a genius who can build anything. She's got an amazing boyfriend who loves her, a best friend she'd do anything for, and a slew of other people who care for her and would protect her from anything. Her research is light-years ahead of what we have and with Stark Industries on her side, she'll help break us all into the next generation of technology."

"Is she nice?" asked Madison, her voice stronger now.

"When she wants to be," replied Jane with a laugh. "I've seen her get revenge on people who've made the mistake of underestimating her and I've seen her challenge people most sane humans wouldn't dream of clashing with."

"She's strong, stubborn," muttered Madison, but there was a smile in her voice. "Just like all Foster's are."

"With Stark's genius and aptitude for all things mechanical," agreed Jane.

"What- what does she look like?" asked Madison.

Jane shrugged a little, trying to think of the best way to describe Darcy. Then, she got a better idea. "I can send you a picture when we're off the phone. But mom, you can't tell anyone about her."

"But Jane, your aunts and uncles, they'll want know!" objected Madison. "They're her family-"

"No," cut in Jane firmly. "Mom, as far as she's concerned, we're a bunch of people who didn't want her and, even if that isn't true of everyone, her own grandparents gave her up without a second thought. Right now, we need to give Tony a chance to get to know her and she'll resist if our family gets involved."

"She's just as much our family as she is his," argued Madison. "Why should he get preferential access to her?"

"Because she's his daughter," replied Jane with a bit of a growl. "She's the daughter he never got to know because our family gave her away before he could be informed. Because our family illegally put her up for adoption. Our family abandoned her, he never knew she existed. He deserves the chance to get to know her. We had the chance and blew it. We could have taken the matter to court, we could have claimed custody, but no one did. We abandoned her to the system, even if it was unwillingly, but he never even got the chance." She paused to take a deep breath then, the rage she'd felt growing since she'd gotten the news ebbing from her system like the water before a tsunami. When she felt calmer, she dared to speak again. "This is his second chance and I won't let anyone screw him out of that. You didn't see the look on his face when he found out he had a child. Guilt, love, disbelief, awe... it was everything a father should feel for his child. He wants to be her dad. He'd more or less adopted her unofficially before he found out. But she's resisting accepting everything because she was lied to by her adoptive parents. And right now, I'd rather see her come to trust Tony than push her to accept all of her family at once. Her father should get his chance first."

A heavy sigh carried over the line, tears laced through the shuttering breath. "Alright, Jane. I understand and I won't tell anyone. But, could you do me a favor in return? Could you please keep me up-to-date on what she's doing? Send me pictures, newspaper articles, anything you can? I wanted to adopt her. I would have if Jerry had been from my side of the family. But your father didn't want to get involved and I wasn't going to push him to get involved if he didn't feel it was his right."

"Alright," agreed Jane quietly. "I'll do what I can. Most of what she's doing now is classified though, so I won't make any guarantees."

"That's fine," assured Madison. "Just something, whatever you can manage."

"Right," sighed Jane heavily. Glancing up, she spotted the crack in the door immediately and knew that Thor had been listening in on the whole conversation. Smiling slightly over his concern, she shifted the phone and quietly started towards the door. "Anyway mom, I need to go. I'll call you later when I get the chance and we can talk more."

"That sounds good," agreed Madison. "I love you, Jane."

"Love you too, mom," returned Jane. "Have a good day."

"You too." The click of the phone line cutting off told Jane her mom had disconnected the call. Though normally that would concern Jane, as she was always the one to hang up, she pushed any concerns about why her mom had hung up from her mind. Her mother was bound to be emotional after that particular call.

Setting her own phone carefully on the first flat surface she could find, Jane slipped up to the cracked open door. Carefully remaining out of sight, Jane touched the doorknob for a moment before rapidly pulling the door open and sending Thor tumbling into the room. The sight of the god of thunder laying on the floor looking up at her brought a soft smile to Jane's lips. "Enjoying the view?"

Thor's brow furrowed as he stared up at Jane, clearly confused. "I do not understand this phrase. What view am I supposedly enjoying?"

One of Jane's eyebrows rose in disbelief. "Okay, I'll forgive you for that comment this time, but you might want to ask Tony what that means." Smiling down at Thor, she offered him one of her hands.

He waved it off easily though, rolling to his feet and offering Jane a worried look. "Are you well, my Jane?"

"I'll be alright," replied Jane, one of her hands rising to rub at the bridge of her nose. "I could really use a hug and some comfort right now though."

Smiling softly, Thor pulled Jane into his arms for a careful hug. "I can assist you with both."

"Good," murmured Jane with a content sigh, some of the tension already easing from her shoulders. "I was hoping you would say that."

This is not the end. I have another story that wraps this arc up planned, but it's not ready for publication yet. It'll be up as soon as it's ready though.