Radioactive | Bucky Barnes

THOR 3: CHAPTER NINE

Thor glanced toward the skies. "The Convergence."

Rhiley furrowed her brow. "The what now?"

Jane paled. "Oh god. None of this would've happened if I hadn't found the Aether."

Thor turned to her gently. "Then Malekith would've found it much sooner."

Jane shook her head, clearly frustrated. "I only found it because I was looking for you."

Rhiley quietly folded her arms around herself and looked away, her gaze drifting toward the shadows in the cave. They were having a moment. A moment full of love and regret. She didn't have those anymore. Probably never would again. Not with everything she'd lost — not after waking up in a world that had moved on without her.

The thing with Sif was different. Playful. 

Not love. 

Thor stepped forward, his fingers brushing Jane's cheek. "Jane."

She blinked. "Now we're trapped here."

Suddenly, the faint sound of music echoed through the cave.

Jane startled. "That's not me."

Thor shook his head. "Nor me."

Rhiley turned back toward them. "Okay, seriously—if someone's got a speaker hidden in their cape, now's the time to fess up."

Jane reached into her pocket and pulled out her ringing cell phone. "It's my phone?" She answered quickly. "Hello?" She paused, stunned. "Richard? Where are you?" A sudden burst of hope filled her voice. "Oh my god, that's amazing!"

She looked down at the screen, confused. "How am I getting service in a cave on an alien planet?"

A beat.

"No, no, no, don't hang up, please! Just stay on the line." She spotted something on the ground and bent to pick up a ring of keys. "Just keep talking, okay?"

Before long, the group stumbled out of the strange dimensional cave... right back onto Earth, emerging from the shadows of the abandoned factory.

"Jane!" Darcy sprinted up and threw her arms around her.

Jane exhaled with relief. "Hey."

Darcy's eyes scanned the group. When she spotted Rhiley, she squinted. "You?!"

Rhiley gave a one-shouldered shrug. "Thor kidnapped me to help save Jane."

Darcy looked between Thor and Rhiley, then nodded slowly. "Okay. Fair."

"You can't just disappear like that!" Darcy scolded Jane. "The world's losing its mind. Gravity's acting weird. Dimensions are bending. And, uh—" she motioned to Jane's tattered clothes, "Did you go to a party or fight a supervillain?"

Jane blinked, distracted by something. That's when she saw Erik Selvig standing nearby.

"Erik?" she said softly.

Selvig opened his arms with a wide smile. "Jane, how wonderful!" He wrapped her in a tight hug.

Rhiley squinted. "He's not wearing pants."

Darcy chimed in casually, "He says it helps him think."

Rhiley tilted her head. "Bold."

That's when Ian stepped forward, awkwardly trying to process the new arrivals. He looked at Rhiley.

"Uh... who are you?"

Rhiley met his eyes without blinking. "Trained assassin."

Ian immediately took a cautious step back.