Chapter 130: As Long as You Rock It Fast Enough, Even a Kiddie Ride Can Cover a Thousand Miles
Inside the pet shop.
Thor's volume had attracted the attention of every member of staff.
He stood at the entrance with his hands in his pockets, scanning the available animals with a look of focused assessment.
Seeing no one respond, he increased his volume. "I need a horse!"
"A mount capable of great speed!"
This time he had not only secured the full attention of the staff, but several customers as well.
A staff member stepped forward with the brisk efficiency of someone whose goal was to remove the horse-seeking individual from the general customer space as quickly as possible.
"I'm sorry, sir. This is a pet shop. We don't sell horses."
"If you need a fast mount, there's a motorcycle dealership around the corner to the left. You might want to try there."
No horses.
Thor paused, then recovered quickly.
"No horse is fine. Just find me something I can ride."
Something you can ride.
"...Do you like riding dogs?"
"Dogs?" Thor looked at her with genuine confusion. "You can ride those?"
The world was apparently larger than he had appreciated.
"Of course you can." The staff member took a deep breath, disappeared briefly, and returned with a coin-operated kiddie ride shaped like a dog, the kind found outside grocery stores.
She set it down in front of him.
"As long as you rock it fast enough, it can cover a thousand miles a day."
Thor stared at it.
He suspected she was messing with him. He had no idea how to prove it.
Matthew's voice came through the front door.
"We appreciate the thought. However, riding dogs in that configuration presents certain structural risks to my friend's dignity below the waist. In the interest of protecting what's south of his belt, let's leave the toy here."
He put a hand on Thor's shoulder. "Come with me."
Matthew stepped out to the convertible parked at the curb and got behind the wheel.
Thor didn't entirely understand why Matthew was helping him, but transportation was transportation, and the alternative was the coin-operated dog. He got in.
"Lawrence." Sitting in the passenger seat, Thor looked at Matthew. "Are you not part of their group?"
Matthew laughed. "I think you've got the situation slightly wrong. I was never really part of their group."
"We just happened to have compatible interests and ended up in the same place. Temporarily."
"Though between the two options, I find you considerably more interesting than they are."
This was true.
Thor received this with a nod of measured satisfaction.
Hmm. Good taste.
Able to immediately recognize that the great Thor was a person of substance.
I acknowledge you, Lawrence.
The two of them were on the highway now, moving quickly.
Thor watched the landscape on both sides flying past and stood up in his seat.
"Lawrence, this mount of yours is quite good! The speed is genuinely impressive!"
"Is there any chance you could get me one of my own?" He turned to Matthew.
Matthew glanced sideways. Thor was standing in the open convertible with his face aimed directly into the oncoming wind. "Getting one is simple enough. Can you drive?"
"Can I drive?" Thor's face went entirely serious. "Lawrence, you are significantly underestimating my ability with a mount. In Asgard, even the most difficult horse I could handle."
He looked down at the vehicle beneath him, briefly at a loss for what to call it.
"Car," Matthew said.
"Right! A mere car presents no challenge whatsoever to the great Thor!"
On the other side of town, Jane and the others had run into trouble.
"Hey! What are you doing! Those are mine!" Jane rushed forward toward the group of strangers methodically clearing out her entire research setup, trying to intercept what she could.
Before she got close, Coulson stepped in front of her. "Miss Foster. I'm Agent Coulson of SHIELD."
"Your experimental data and equipment are being requisitioned by the government."
Coulson's matter-of-fact delivery did nothing to help Jane's state of mind. She pushed past him and went straight to the agents loading the vehicles. "On what authority are you taking all my data!"
"This doesn't comply with any government regulation I'm aware of!"
Years of work. The final section of a thesis that was almost finished, pulled out of her hands at the last moment. There was no version of this that didn't produce a specific kind of fury.
Erik was more composed. He caught Jane by the arm just as she was about to start an argument. "Jane. This situation is probably considerably more serious than you're treating it right now. Let the data go."
Data could be replaced. Other things couldn't.
Jane wasn't interested in Erik's reasoning. She pushed his arm off and moved toward the loading vehicles, trying to get her equipment back before it disappeared.
Coulson's people stopped her before she reached it.
"I'm sorry, Miss Fox." Coulson produced a check from inside his jacket and placed it in her hands. "This should compensate for your losses."
"Fuck! Keep your money!"
"I want my equipment!" Jane threw the check back at him. It hit his face.
"Miss Fox, I'd ask you to calm down." A slight crease appeared at Coulson's brow. "If you continue interfering with a government operation, I'll have you arrested for obstruction and turned over to the police."
"Sorry! Sorry! They're almost done, just a minute more!" Erik, who clearly had some prior understanding of how SHIELD operated, grabbed Jane and pulled her to the side.
The last vehicle door closed. Coulson walked out without looking back.
As the vehicles pulled away, Jane: "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
She turned on Erik. "Why did you stop me? Why didn't you stop them?"
"Stop them with what?!" Erik's voice came out sharp. "That's SHIELD. A government agency."
"You have no idea what they're actually capable of."
"I once knew a scientist. Brilliant work in gamma radiation research. SHIELD came for him, and after that he simply wasn't around anymore."
"So be grateful. Be grateful they only took your data."
The sharpness of it cut through. Jane was still furious, but the anger had stopped running the show.
She knew what Erik had done was for her. It wasn't a betrayal.
She dropped into a chair and looked at the empty space where her work had been. "Years of effort. Just like that."
"It's not just your years of effort," Darcy said. "My iPod was in there too."
"I'd downloaded over thirty songs onto it last night."
Jane looked at her.
"Is that the same thing?!"
"And can you please stop talking about your iPod."
"...Okay. But I really did love that iPod." Darcy's voice had gone quieter. "All my game saves were on it too. I'll have to start completely from scratch now."
She glanced at the check lying on the ground where Jane had thrown it.
"Jane. Are you genuinely not taking their money?"
"If you're not. Could I have it?"
"I'm actually in fairly urgent need of money right now."
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