97- Avengers (3)

Mason momentarily stopped his cultivation as the Helicarrier came to a full stop, and the Quinjet landed. The people within hurried inside, as even stationary, the winds at this altitude threatened to throw them overboard.

Following them inside, his haori billowing in the strong winds, Mason easily spotted the expert among the agents. She was a relatively short woman, and a familiar face. Not because Mason had met her, but because she had been part of the Thor file Fury had given him when pitching him the Avengers.

Jane Foster, Thor’s lover on Earth, as well as a colleague of the kidnapped Erik Selvig and a prodigious astrophysicist and astronomer in her own right. She also wasn’t alone, with her friend Darcy Lewis accompanying her.

Seeing him approach, before he could even offer any greetings, Jane stomped over, stabbing her finger into his chest as she exclaimed, "Do you people at SHIELD think my life is a game? That you can just haul me to the other side of the world with no explanation, then come kidnap me again? You think that indecent salary makes it okay?"

Darcy called out from behind, "Jane, I don’t think he is from SHIELD."

Mason smiled, extending a hand, "Doctor Foster, we all deeply appreciate your help. As for your grievances, I am sure Fury will gladly listen to them."

Jane looked embarrassed, her cheeks reddening a little from shame, but she still shook his hand, offering a rushed, whispered greeting before escaping.

Mason followed them. Although he knew he would not be able to offer any help on the scientific side, he hoped that listening in would give him better insight into the situation.

Inside, Jane met Fury with the same candor as she had Mason, instantly berating him, "Director Fury! What is going on for you to be sending me to Tromso, then picking me up in this… this giant monstrosity?"

Fury replied patiently, "This is the Helicarrier, and we are very proud of it. And to answer your question, Thor’s brother Loki came knocking and kidnapped Doctor Selvig, as well as a weapon capable of wiping humanity off the planet. We deemed you safer here."

Jane instantly lost her heat, muttering, "Oh," before straightening herself, adding, "Still, you could have said something. Alright, what do you need me for?"

Fury quickly explained the situation to her, while Darcy quietly approached Mason, elbowing him jokingly. "Do you usually stalk beautiful women, then loom over them?"

Mason smiled and teased back, "Are you talking about yourself or Professor Foster?"

Darcy grinned, placing her hands on her hips and slightly curving her body. "Well, she happens to be taken by a god of thunder, so you tell me."

"And I happen to be taken by a lovely girlfriend. But tell me, what are you doing here, Ms. Lewis?"

Darcy deflated, muttering, "Had to take the shot," before straightening and adding, "Also, I work for SHIELD too, and am somewhat familiar with Professor Selvig’s work. But honestly, I’m mostly here for moral support."

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Mason nodded respectfully, "You look like an excellent anchor, Ms. Lewis. Especially for a friend lost in a storm."

Darcy chuckled, "You really are a monk. Wonder how you got a girlfriend."

Although Mason knew she was teasing, he still replied, "Childhood friend. I am also very charismatic."

At this moment, Fury approached, Jane having already left for Banner’s laboratory, and he had heard their conversation, telling Darcy as he came over, "Don’t take him seriously, Ms. Lewis. He likes to lower people’s guards when they meet him. Good habit for someone capable of playing legos with people’s bones."

Mason rolled his eyes at Fury’s words, and Darcy chuckled, "I know who he is, no worries, Director Fury."

Mason had already noted the familiarity between the two women and Fury, so he asked, "You three already knew each other?"

Fury answered, "Ms. Foster has been working with SHIELD since the New Mexico incident to further our understanding of what the Asgardians call the Nine Realms. She also worked closely with Eric Selvig, our lead scientist on the Tesseract, and she is the creator of the Foster Theory on wormholes. So as far as wormholes and portals in space are concerned, she is the number one expert on the planet. As for Ms. Lewis…"

Darcy informed him proudly, "I hacked into SHIELD after they stole our stuff. No big deal. They ended up hiring me too."

"If Foster is the number one on the planet, why wasn’t she the one working on the Tesseract?"

Darcy gasped at being ignored, and Fury ignored that too. "We studied the Tesseract as an energy source, not a wormhole generator. Besides, Doctor Foster was already helping us with cosmology."

Mason guessed that made sense. Still, he asked, "And she’s fine with working with Doctor Banner? And I mean, does she know?"

Fury looked in the direction of the laboratory. "I am confident Doctor Banner has the moral integrity to warn her about his condition."

Mason smiled and stopped there, although he knew they both understood where he was getting at. There was no way Jane, or any other person, for that matter, would bail on Banner’s face after he told them he was the Hulk. Not when they had just been told the fate of the world hung in the balance.

The truly morally conscious thing to do would have been to warn Foster beforehand and let her make the decision then. But Mason said nothing because they both understood that, and he figured Jane was not the kind of person to get scared so easily of Banner, considering she was dating Thor. Or dated. Even if briefly.

Mason sent a last look towards the laboratory before deciding to return outside.

The winds were much more subdued than before outside, even as they started moving again, which told Mason they were planning to hover over Europe. This was just fine to him, as it would allow them to deploy rapidly.

Mason also expected everything to happen very quickly, but he had underestimated the time it would take for Loki to plan his attack, or perhaps overestimated him and his means, as Mason spent the rest of the day meditating, continuing well after the sun was replaced by the moon.

Mason did not stop because of nightfall, though. Although it was best to have a direct view of the sun to meditate upon it, he did need to ‘digest’ what he had perceived during the day.

Digest was a strange term to use at first glance, but it meant appropriating what he had learned. He had taken in the raw information of the Dao of the Sun, and now he was connecting it to what he already knew, cross-referencing it and slowly refining his understanding of it. It did not take as long, but Mason still stayed on deck for some time after nightfall.

Then, Mason stayed purely because of the view. He could have kept meditating, the results wouldn’t have been as efficient as before, but it would still be better than none.

But like with any other exercise, results were equal parts effort and rest, so Mason did just that, rest.

Sleeping had lost its meaning for Mason, both because meditation was just a better version of the same thing, and because Mason’s organism no longer needed much sleep.

He was not sure whether it would be the case for all Foundation Establishment cultivators or if it was unique to him because of the healing properties of the Dao of the Sun, but Mason not only released Chi at all times, he also absorbed more. So his body was in a constant cycle of healing, meaning that as long as he was not performing any intense activities, he would only get better.

For Mason, rest was more of a spiritual matter, and he found that admiring the beauty of nature was about the most restful thing he could find.

But Mason was not only a cultivator, but he was also a hero, even if not a perfect one, and when it was not cultivation that called, it was duty.

Loki had been found. In Stuttgart, Germany.