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ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ғᴏᴜʀ: ᴅᴇsᴇʀᴛ sᴋɪᴇs

❝ ᴡʜᴏ ɪs ʜᴇ? ❞

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NOW PARKED IN THE DESERT, THE SUV'S ROOF PANELS FOLDED OPEN, WITH THE UNDERSIDE OF THE PANELS HOUSING A VARIETY OF HAND-BUILT ASTRONOMICAL DEVICES, WHICH WAS NOW POINTING AT THE SKY.

Jane popped her head through the roof and positioned a magnetometer (cobbled together from spare parts of other devices), so that its monitor could calibrate with the constellations in the night sky above.

"Hurry!"

Her demand was met with a loud bang followed by muffled cursing from below and she winced as he offered a hand down to Selvig, who emerged rubbing his head.

"Oh, watch your head," Jane warned as Aaron followed suit and climbed up through the open roof.

"Thanks." Aaron positioned himself alongside the other two, gripping the edge of the vehicle with both hands as he squinted up at the clear sky. "So what's this 'anomaly' of yours supposed to look like?"

Jane pulled one knee up to her chest and tilted her head side to side. "It's a little different each time. Once it looked like, I don't know," she huffed, pausing for a moment, "melted stars, pooling in a corner of the sky. But last week it was a rolling rainbow ribbon-"

"Racing 'round Orion?" Selvig finished for her, a gentle tease in his tone. "I've always said you should have been a poet."

Reigning in her excitement and trying instead for dignity, Jane smiled shyly before turning to yell down through the roof opening.

"Hey, Darcy. Pass up the bubbly and my gloves, will you?"

Darcy handed Jane a bottle of champagne and a pair of gloves through the window, and Jane passed the bottle to Aaron to hold onto while she pulled on the old gloves; they were much too large and masculine for her small hands. Aaron started to unwrap the foil surrounding the cork, but Jane reached out to stop his hand.

"Not until you see it!" she grinned excitedly.

"I recognise those," Selvig said, nodding his head at the gloves, "Think how proud he'd be to see you now."

Jane's grin faded to a sad smile and she looked between the two men. "Thank you, you two."

"For what?"

"The benefit of the doubt."

The three of them stared out at the sky expectantly; minute after minute ticked by while they scanned the skies. Nothing. Jane started to worry.

"It's never taken this long before," she muttered, heading back down into the vehicle.

After sharing a glance and a small shrug, Aaron and Selvig followed after her. The inside of the SUV was bathed in the glow of high-tech monitoring equipment and laptops, with some looking like they were about to fall apart any minute, held together by bits of duct tape. Jane opened a well-worn notebook of handwritten notes and calculations, as the two doctors watched the frustrated woman with sympathetic gazes.

"The anomalies are always precipitated by geomagnetic storms," she explained, showing the men a complicated chart she'd drawn in the book, tracking occurrences and patterns, "The last seventeen occurrences have been predictable to the minute... I just don't understand."

From your seat in the front passenger's side, something caught your eye in the side mirror. With a frown, you adjusted it and in the distance spotted odd, glowing clouds form in the skies over the north-eastern end of the desert. Straightening up, you nudged Darcy and gestured for her to look, too.

"Uh... Jane?"

Jane shushed her, continuing to leaf through her notes. Meanwhile, the bottle of champagne that Aaron had placed back down on one of the surfaces at the back began to vibrate.

"There's got to be some new variable..." Jane spoke, shaking her head, "or an equipment malfunction..."

The lights and the equipment in the SUV began to flicker around the three in the back, and the computer monitors squelched with static.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with your equipment..." you voiced, shifting in your seat as the champagne bottle started to rattle noisily now, as it shook more violently.

Jane, Selvig and Aaron noticed it, then, and they watched it curiously as the pressure inside the bottle built up until the cork exploded and champagne went spewing everywhere – all over the equipment and all over Jane.

"Jane?" Darcy tried again.

Annoyed by the sudden alcohol shower she'd just taken, Jane snapped back. "What?!"

"I think you want to see this." Darcy pointed out of the window and the three in the back looked out.

Over the desert, massive clouds of rainbow light were churning in the sky. The five of you stared, utterly dumbfounded.

"Holy. Shatner," Jane muttered in disbelief.

"That's your 'subtle' aurora?!" Aaron exclaimed, eyes wide as he observed the seemingly unnatural phenomenon.

"No- yes!" Jane shook her head. "Let's go!"

Darcy resumed her position as driver and with the roof panels still open, the SUV raced towards the strange event. Jane, amazed by the sight, stood with half her body out the roof, taking a video of the light storm before you all. The SUV hit a bump and she nearly flew out, but Selvig managed to grab her and yanked her back inside.

Jane grinned like a crazy person, thrilled and pumped with adrenaline. "Isn't this great?"

A thought struck her, then, and her smile faded to an anxious frown as she looked between the rest of you. "You're seeing it, too, right? I'm not crazy."

"That's debatable," Selvig remarked, "Put your seat belt on!"

The SUV continued forward, lurching, as winds began to howl around the vehicle now. Up ahead, spiralling down from out of the clouds came an enormous tornado suffused with the strange rainbow light, roaring like a thousand freight trains as it touched down.

Selvig and Aaron looked up through the still-open sunroof at the enormous glowing funnel cloud with wonder, as Jane clambered into the front seat, on top of you.

"Sorry," she grinned apologetically, "All in the name of science."

Leaning way out of the window, she continued taping the storm.

"You've gotta get us closer so I can take a magnetic reading." she called over her shoulder at Darcy.

The intern laughed. "Yeah, right! Good one!" When she didn't get a response, she realised that it hadn't been a joke. "Oh god, you're serious."

"You want those college credits or not?"

The SUV tore across the sandy expanse towards the tornado with Jane hanging out of the window, taping it all. The vehicle disturbed two ravens perched on a cactus as it raced past. The birds took flight, when – crack! boom! A huge bolt of lighting struck down through the centre of the funnel cloud before you with a terrifying intensity.

The SUV rocked from the blast, and Darcy decided that she'd had enough. Turning the wheel, she started heading away.

"Keep the credits. I'll intern at Burger King."

A hysterical Jane turned sharply. "What are you doing?!"

"Saving our lives!"

Desperate to get closer to the source of the disturbance, Jane reached out to grab the wheel and she jerked it hard the other way. Her and Darcy struggled for control, when the headlights fell on...

A man.

Directly in the path of the SUV, stumbling through the winds. Darcy slammed on the brakes and Jane turned the wheel to avoid him. The vehicle swerved – but too late.

The side of the SUV knocked into the man with a thud, sending him flying. The car skidded to a halt.

The five of you inside the vehicle traded shocked locks, breathing hard and peering through the clouds of dust, but unable to see through. A paralyzed moment, then all of you scrambled to leap out of the car.

Five pairs of legs sprinted, carrying their owners towards the man lying on the ground. Aaron shone the beam of his flashlight at the stranger, illuminating his entire frame. He was dressed in tattered clothing, which was charred and blackened, undoubtedly from the phenomenon.

"I think that was legally your fault," Darcy remarked, looking at Jane.

"Get the first aid kit," Jane responded, and Darcy complied, heading back to the SUV as Jane, concerned, kneeled down next to the man.

You did the same, circling around to the other side of his body before dropping to your knees. Aaron and Selvig hovered above you and Jane protectively, just in case the man proved to be hostile.

Jane gently turned his head to the light, allowing your group to see him clearly for the first time. He was magnificently handsome, with long blonde hair flowing around his classically sculpted features.

When you saw his face, a strange feeling of familiarity washed over you, and your brow creased as you puzzled over why. You were certain that you'd never seen him before – he had the kind of face that no one could ever forget – so why couldn't you shake the feeling that you knew him?

Hesitantly, you reached out two fingers and gently placed them along the soft skin of the side of his neck, searching for a pulse. But instead of finding one, you found something much more vivacious.

The second the two of you made skin-to-skin contact, it was as if a surge of lightning pumped through you, making it feel as if your entire body was a live spark.

With a loud gasp, you recoiled, yanking your hand away and scrambling to your feet, taking a few steps back. Your company watched you in confusion, their facial expressions asking you what was wrong.

You struggled to find the words to explain, since there were no words to explain. You knew full well that the only person who would understand was the man who was currently lying unconscious on the ground in front of you.

"He... uh..." you tried. Thankfully, Jane did you the favour of coming up with an explanation.

Touching the back of her hand to his skin, she frowned a bit. "He's freezing cold. Icy."

You swallowed harshly. Clearly, you had had as much of an effect on him as he had on you. Realisation dawning on him, Aaron made subtle eye contact with you, and you gave a small nod, prompting him to straighten up before slowly moving to join your side.

The two of you watched as Jane proceeded to try and wake him up. She cupped her hands around his face, as if willing the life back into him.

"Come on, big guy," she urged, "Do me a favour and don't be dead, okay? Open your eyes and look at me."

Suddenly, he groaned, and she's startled, then relieved, as his eyes flutter open. She looked deep into his confused, azure eyes, which at last focused on her own.

You took another few steps back, then – afraid that making eye contact with him would only be asking for trouble. Everyone was too engrossed by the stranger to notice your movements; everyone except Aaron.

"Are you alright?" he asked in concern; you nodded, folding your arms over your chest protectively. He rubbed your back a few times in reassurance before speaking again. "What was that?"

"I have no idea," you answered truthfully.

"Do you know him?"

You bit on your bottom lip as your forehead creased. "I... yes. And no."

Properly perplexed, Aaron frowned. "What do you mean? Who is he?"

After stealing one last glance at the man, you closed your eyes and turned to the doctor.

"Aaron... he's an Asgardian."

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County Hospital ER.

Jane and Darcy stood before the desk of a sweet but insufferably ditzy admissions nurse, attempting to relay the necessary details regarding the last half hour, while Selvig watched the unconscious Thor with interest, as two orderlies set the Asgardian onto a gurney. You and Aaron stood to the side.

"Are you sure?" he whispered to you for what had to have been the twentieth time.

With a small sigh of irritation, you nodded your head yes as your fingers absentmindedly fiddled with the necklace around your neck. "Yes."

"How do you know for certain?"

"I just...do," you shrugged, frowning somewhat as you thought over it, "I can't explain it but- when we touched, I knew. I could feel him, and he felt familiar. Like..." you stopped for a beat and watched the orderlies wheel Thor down the pristine hallway, "family."

"My god. The Mighty Thor. Here. On Earth," Aaron laughed disbelievingly, shaking his head and reaching his hand back to grip the back of his neck before breaking out into a huge grin. "I can't believe this. I mean, Norse mythology is my-"

"Life?" you scoffed, raising one brow.

"Yes," he exclaimed, eyes sparkling with clear elatedness, "Precisely. I've studied it for as long as I've been able to read, and never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I-" He cut himself off, stopping to exhale in bafflement. "Thor. The Thor. I've gone almost all my life thinking that it was all merely fiction, yet here I am meeting an actual Asgardian."

Creasing your brow, you turned your head to toss him a questioning look. "Um, have you forgotten everything that's happened this past year? I'm Asgardian, too."

"Eh," he skewed his mouth to the side. You cast an offended look his way, but he paid no attention to it, rather focusing on the rest of the room and when he deemed it safe enough, he gathered your hand in his and hurriedly dragged you down the hallway. "Come on, let's go."

You made no effort to resist him, despite your better judgement, and soon enough you found yourself standing outside of a hospital room, gazing in through the cracks in the blinds at Thor, who was just now showing signs of consciousness.

Clad in a hospital gown, the God of Thunder awoke with a wince of pain, turning to his right to see a nurse standing over him and a syringe in his arm.

"Hi," the nurse gave him a closed-lipped smile, "Just taking a little blood."

Angrily, Thor immediately slapped the syringe away and started to sit up. "How dare you attack the son of Odin?!"

"Uh oh," you and Aaron muttered, just as two orderlies rushed into the room to assist (at the nurse's request), trying to hold Thor down.

"We're trying to help you!" the nurse tried explaining, but Thor wasn't having any of it.

"Then bring me a healing stone, you savages!" he growled, hurling one of the orderlies off of him and smashing him against a wall.

This resulted in a couple of security guards and male nurses joining the fracas, all struggling to hold Thor down. Medical equipment was flying all over the place, and furniture was being overturned in the struggle.

"What the hell is this guy on?" one of the orderlies exclaimed.

Finally, they forced him back down onto the gurney. Thor looked shocked and amazed that he was actually being overpowered by the small group, and the nurse took advantage of his surprise and injected him with a sedative.

Yet, he persisted. "You're no match for the Mighty-"

His words caught in his throat as his eyes landed on the window and the two of you made eye contact. You swallowed harshly, and he let out a small gasp.

"You," Thor mumbled, eyes wide for a second before the drugs started kicking in and his eyes became droopy, "Ska..."

He passed out.

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Thank you for reading x