Chapter Text
“Welcome to Shield Dr Foster.” Agent Coulson said walking into the just assigned lab.
“Yeah, great welcome. Forgive me for not shaking your hand or giving you a grand demonstration but I'm trying to meet a deadline.” Dr. Jane Foster loudly said across the lab unpacking a box.
“What deadline?” Coulson asked, he hadn't issued any deadline's for Foster's project knowing she wouldn't need any. Her desire to reconnect with Asgard and Thor was better than any deadline he could issue.
“I was instructed to have everything set up for an inspection by seven am tomorrow. Why are you here Agent Coulson?”
The jeans and t-shirt wearing man behind Coulson answered, “I was hoping to look at your notes and research.”
“Computer's on the desk and Darcy's instruction book is next to it.” Jane gestured with something electronic with a couple of dangling wires.
As the man opened Darcy's instructions Coulson asked, “Where is your intern and who told you that you had to be ready for an inspection?”
Not slowing in the box unpacking Jane expalined “Darcy's out looking for a job. I got memo handed to my by someone named Johnson when they escorted me here. He said I was only allowed valuable shield agents to carry in my equipment so I wouldn't get lost but I was on my own to get ready for inspection.”
Handing the memo to Coulson t-shirt guy appeared to be shocked, “Job hunting? Was she not happy with her salary?”
“Darcy never got paid so no she wasn't happy and I'm not either.”
“Never got paid? Coulson how is that possible?”
“I want to know also Stark.” Coulson agreed his unhappiness clear on his usually impassive face.
“The money paper pusher you left in Puente Antiguo making sure we behaved with our pennies said that if someone wasn't on the employee list they weren't hired by Shield. The tiny bit of money Darcy got was from a grant specifically to get internships for undergrads so she was never on any employee list.” Jane said slamming things onto desks and counters.
“There were millions of dollars going to the New Mexico site. You call that pennies?” Stark demanded.
“Darcy kept us in poptarts and food. Grant money I already had barely kept my generators running and we had to hide out poptarts from the security thugs who had their own RV and food truck things. I didn't see anywhere near millions.”
“That is now how that money was supposed to be spent.” Stark snarled at the lab in general.
“Don't worry. I will find out exactly what happened to that money. Excuse me Mr. Stark, Dr. Foster.” Coulson said before walking out of Jane's lab.
“These instructions, were they written for Darcy?” Stark asked not letting on that he was closely listening for Jane's answer.
“No. She wrote it for me. All the archiving, storing, and cross referencing, was Darcy's work. She started that to keep track of all my notes and so I could find where she put it all on the computer.” Jane explained watching Stark nod and flip the pages of the book looking like he understood how Darcy organized it.
“This looks like a real well organized system. I'm impressed. If you get the budget you should have had would you hire her?” Stark asked
“Instantly but she's not a scientist and I don't think Johnson or the money dictator will like me hiring her.” Jane immediately answered plugging in the computer.
“Why did you agree to come to New York?”
“I need to build some new equipment and didn't have the capability there. Agent Coulson said that I could get what I needed here and I used all my grant money.” Jane said stacking papers and notebooks.
“Is Darcy still in New Mexico?”
“No. We managed to get her on the plane full of all this when we moved and I still have an apartment here from when I was working on my doctorate and she's staying there.”
As Stark looked over Jane's notes Jane continued unpacking until her cell phone rang.
“Hello. Yes, I'm Jane Foster. Where is she? I'm her boss and medical contact. What hospital is she at?”
Shoving the phone into her pocket Jane pointed to Stark. “You I forgot your name how do I get to Memorial Hospital?”
“I'll drive. Who's hurt?”
“Thanks. It's Darcy. They didn't say anything other than she was hurt.”
Leading Jane out of her lab Tony Stark decided he liked her, she made the most out of what she had and she didn't abandon her friends.
Sitting down next to Stark in the small waiting room Jane sighed then said, “Apparently the boiler that heated the building broke and water went everywhere. It looks like Darcy fell down the stairs because she was found unconscious at the bottom. They think she was found quickly and rushed here. Darcy stuck one of my business cards behind her drivers license with instructions to call me in emergency. They said something about a CT scan and casting then they gave these forms to fill out. That shouldn't take long.”
“I hate paperwork.” Tony groaned.
“Her name is about all I can fill in. I don't know her medical history, no job, no insurance, I have no idea if she's allergic to anything, and thanks to the lousy boiler in my apartment building no current address. I guess for both of us, but we did manage to bring a futon in the lab so I could sleep there.”
Dropping the clipboard and forms to her lap Jane sighed. “This stinks.”
“You go check on Darcy and I'll take care of these.” Tony gently said taking the clipboard from Jane and nudging her toward the nurse's desk. When Jane was safely out of sight Tony flipped to the insurance information and wrote something on the paper before going to the nurse's desk also.