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“A telepath,” Summer mused. “Interesti—Charles. A telepath named Charles. /You/ know Professor X?!” She laid her head down on the table. “I must have done something wrong in my life, all the good stuff fell to you.” 

Jane laughed and shook her head. “You didn’t do anything wrong! I just… it happens to be a lot of strange coincidences,” she said, shrugging. “But honestly, I’ll introduce the two of you. He’s amazing, he really is, and he’s always eager to learn more about anyone and anything.” She smiled. “He’d probably say that you’re fascinating.”

“No, just insane,” Summer replied, grinning back. “I should just make you list all the famous people you know and be done with it, then tag along on one of your days just so I can say I laid eyes on them all.”

She looked out at the street, a little amazed. One random e-mail, and somehow things turned right around. Okay, so maybe Loki wasn’t the safest friend to have, all touch-me-not and distant, and Jane was often busy with her research, but it was a far cry better than when she’d first come here, alone and empty and hurting.

“I really don’t know that many. I just happen to know one famous person who works really closely with a ton of other famous people,” Jane said, and grinned. “I don’t know any movie stars or models or anything. I just know super heroes.”

Even that was nuts, though. If she had been told three years ago that she’d know all of these people, she would have just laughed, because it was completely ridiculous. “But seriously, I’d be happy to introduce you to at least Thor, Tony, and Pepper. They’re the ones I’m closest to.” She thought for a moment. “And Johnny Storm, I guess. He’d like you.” She smirked. “He’d probably really like you. You’re both really hot.” Literally.

“The next pertinent question is: when? I’ve got all the free time in the world.” Summer folded her hands under her chin and contrived to look innocent.

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“I fell in love,” Summer said lightly, blinking a few times before looking back at Jane. “I fell in love, and they never loved me back. And I always knew. No matter how much we tried not to hurt each other with that knowledge … ” She shook her head. “You don’t know how lucky you are, Jane, being ordinary.”

Jane sighed, frowning just a bit. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Just… that it happened to you, I mean. You’ll find someone. Someone who loves you.” And sometimes that was hard to believe – hell, Jane had given up on it after Donald – but then she’d met Thor. Sometimes… things just fell into place.

“Y’know… I used to think I was ordinary. And I guess, compared to you, maybe I am, but…” She shook her head. “Sometimes I wish Thor was just a normal person. You stop being ordinary when you start seeing a god.”

Summer couldn’t help but laugh at that. “And there’s a thing I can’t argue with.” She toyed with her glass for a moment, spinning it in circles. “Not that I actually have a whole lot to do today, but I don’t want to just take up your time for no reason. Err, maybe some day you could introduce me to some of your friends here?”

Jane smiled. “Sure I could. I don’t have a lot of friends, but…” She shrugged, and chuckled. “You could meet Pepper, definitely. And Thor, obviously. And Darcy, too. She was my intern back in New Mexico, and I know she was living here for a little while, at least.” Darcy and Summer would get along really well. “And Charles, too, if I can track him down again at some point.” Something occurred to her. “Actually, you and Charles would get along really well. He’s a telepath.” She grinned. “And he’s incredibly friendly.”

“A telepath,” Summer mused. “interesti—Charles. A telepath named Charles. /You/ know Professor X?!” She laid her head down on the table. “I must have done something wrong in my life, all the good stuff fell to you.” 

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Summer dropped the doughnut like it burned her and hit herself in the forehead. “Don’t you two even talk?” she said, under the hand. “Good grief, Jane. Look, I’m not going to say this to hurt you, but seriously, I never thought of you as a coward.”

Summer dropped her hand and looked into Jane’s eyes, her face very serious. “You’re not doing yourself any favours being afraid. You say he’s sincere and honest and wonderful, so hold on to that and be honest back to him.” She leaned back in the chair, arms folded. “You’re serious about him, right? Do it right from the beginning.”

Jane raised an eyebrow. “I am not a coward,” she said. “We talk all the time, but we talk about things that are a bit more pressing than sex. He’s got enough to worry about without worrying about literally breaking me.” She rolled her eyes.

“It’s more complicated than that, okay? And besides, I’m not in any rush, and neither is he. It’s not like we haven’t done it just because we’re both nervous. It feels… I don’t know. It feels right taking things slow with him.”

Summer rolled her eyes right back. “I didn’t say jump right into bed. I said be honest. If you talk about everything, then let everything include why you think he might be offended. Or ask him why he thinks you might be offended.”

“Jane, I’m really serious about this. I — you’re my friend, and I don’t want to see you hurt because the two of you fumbled around trying /not/ to hurt each other.” Summer looked away, at the city skyline, her mouth crimping. “I tried that. I won’t let what happened to me, happen to you. I just won’t.”

Jane smiled, her expression sort. “Summer. Trust me, that’s not going to happen,” she said. “I know I probably made it sound like the two of us never talk, but… like I said, it’s just.. it’s complicated.” She shrugged. They talked, but they also just sort of had a lot of silent understandings of each other. They’d been that way since the beginning. It was why they worked together.

“What happened to you, though?” She raised an eyebrow, suddenly curious. She didn’t know much of anything about Summer’s personal life outside of what she’d known in high school.

“I fell in love,” Summer said lightly, blinking a few times before looking back at Jane. “I fell in love, and they never loved me back. And I always knew. No matter how much we tried not to hurt each other with that knowledge … ” She shook her head. “You don’t know how lucky you are, Jane, being ordinary.”

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“I haven’t been out of town a whole lot since we met back up, to be honest,” Jane said, and shrugged. “I’m sure he would fly me somewhere if I asked him to, but I’ve just been taking jets from either S.H.I.E.L.D. or Stark Industries. Working for them all comes with perks.” She chuckled, taking a sip from her coffee.

“Well… what do you mean? I know he’s kind of… y’know. He’s just. He’s Thor. There’s no other way to put it.”

“I’m so jealous of you right now, I can’t even say. I mean,” Summer shrugged, “okay, I have some powers, and I can fly too, but I am so low down on the totem pole, you would not believe. And here you are, famous scientist girl with the hot boyfriend and the most amazing friends on the planet. I bet our old classmates would have a /cow/ if they could see you now.”

She grinned. “One more nosey question and then I swear I’ll stop.” Summer picked up one last doughnut, and giving Jane the side-eye, licked at the frosting slowly. “What’s he like … in bed?”

Jane sputtered into her coffee, setting the cup down and putting a hand over her mouth so she didn’t just spit it everywhere. Oh, she should’ve seen that one coming. Most people didn’t ask, so she didn’t have to think about it, but Summer definitely wasn’t most people.

Once she had finally swallowed, she shrugged. “I wouldn’t be able to tell you, honestly,” she said. “We haven’t done too much more than kissing. I think he’s afraid of offending me, and I’m afraid of offending him.” She chuckled and rolled her eyes. “He might also be afraid of hurting me. He squeezed me too hard when we were making out on the couch and I had bruises for a week and a half. He doesn’t know about the bruises, but he knows it hurt.”

Summer dropped the doughnut like it burned her and hit herself in the forehead. “Don’t you two even talk?” she said, under the hand. “Good grief, Jane. Look, I’m not going to say this to hurt you, but seriously, I never thought of you as a coward.”

Summer dropped her hand and looked into Jane’s eyes, her face very serious. “You’re not doing yourself any favours being afraid. You say he’s sincere and honest and wonderful, so hold on to that and be honest back to him.” She leaned back in the chair, arms folded. “You’re serious about him, right? Do it right from the beginning.”

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Jane laughed at Summer’s enthusiasm, smiling brightly. “Yeah, I have a lab. A pretty big one, actually. I have one big telescope there, and some equipment I made myself, along with some that S.H.I.E.L.D. supplied me with. I travel whenever I can, too. It’s hard to see stars in this city.”

She rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling. “Yeah, you can come see it some time. And I haven’t really found anything conclusive on that subject, yet. It’s going to take a bit of work. It’s more about trying to find something that proves it right rather than trying to find something that proves what we already believe wrong. It’s… sort of difficult. But that’s space, for you. Nothing’s easy.”

“Oh, well, nothing ever worth having is easy,” Summer replied. Her grin slid slightly sideways, acquiring mischief. “Soooo … does Thor fly you when you go out of town? Or do you still have to hoof it? I gotta say, I’m still really curious about this whole thing with you and Thor. I mean, the man — god? — is … he’s a thing. Like, I can’t even describe it.”

“I haven’t been out of town a whole lot since we met back up, to be honest,” Jane said, and shrugged. “I’m sure he would fly me somewhere if I asked him to, but I’ve just been taking jets from either S.H.I.E.L.D. or Stark Industries. Working for them all comes with perks.” She chuckled, taking a sip from her coffee.

“Well… what do you mean? I know he’s kind of… y’know. He’s just. He’s Thor. There’s no other way to put it.”

“I’m so jealous of you right now, I can’t even say. I mean,” Summer shrugged, “okay, I have some powers, and I can fly too, but I am so low down on the totem pole, you would not believe. And here you are, famous scientist girl with the hot boyfriend and the most amazing friends on the planet. I bet our old classmates would have a /cow/ if they could see you now.”

She grinned. “One more nosey question and then I swear I’ll stop.” Summer picked up one last doughnut, and giving Jane the side-eye, licked at the frosting slowly. “What’s he like … in bed?”

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Jane nodded, finishing off the doughnuts she was working on and washing it down with coffee. “I’m glad you’re here. It’s nice seeing another person from when I was younger,” she said, and smiled. Really, Summer was the only person Jane had seen from when she was growing up since high school.

“So you’re a web designer now?” She picked up another doughnut, this one jelly-filled. “Have you designed any websites I would’ve seen?” She grinned.

“I kind of doubt it. My big project is a martial arts tournament site, but I do a lot of little consulting projects for people I know. That’s why I’m hoping to meet Tony, actually. If I can get him to let me get my hands on his site … oooh.” Summer flexed her fingers, pretending she was gripping the site, or maybe Tony.

She grinned at Jane. “Or, you know, I can just get my hands on him. I know, I know, he’s an asshole. I know from assholes, though.” Pointing at Jane, she added, “You are lucky, to have someone who cares about you first and himself second. Anyway, it’s not that I’m hard up for money, but getting my name associated with Stark Industries would be a huge boost in a new area.”

“You should definitely try asking him. No harm in trying, right?” Jane asked, shrugging. “Besides, he might be way too interested about the fact that you can call fire to think much about saying no.” And, okay, maybe it would suck having to use that to get an in, but it was completely true. Tony liked science-y things, especially when they were kind of… abnormal.

“I’d offer to pay you to do a website for me, but I don’t really need one,” she said, and chuckled. “S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t exactly put any of my research on the internet.” Granted, she could put her own research out there if she wanted to. “And I don’t really want it there, either. I’d rather put it in a book or something. If I write a book, I’ll let you design the website about me.” She grinned.

“You could keep a blog,” Summer suggested. “What the hell do you do, anyway? What kind of research?”