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In the passenger seat, Thor unfolded the expanse of the New Mexico state map and began to orient himself. “You said we are on Route 66, correct?”
“Yeah, but on there it should say I-40, it’s not officially called Route 66 anymore and that’s actually changed a bit.” Jane glanced over to try to read the map but quickly gave up to keep her focus safely on the road. “Uh, if you can find Albuquerque it runs through there and should be east of where we are now, and I think I remember seeing Grants or something as one of the towns we’re getting close to?”
Thor hummed in acknowledgement and took another moment before he made an eager sound and tapped at a point on the map. “I believe we are here, and…” He referenced the map’s scale and shifted how he held the map to reveal further west. “It seems there are about 300 more miles until we arrive in Flagstaff.”
“Is there a good halfway point for a rest stop?” Jane asked as she eyed the mile markers on the right of the road to make her own guess.
He traced his finger back along the line of I-40. “Ah, let me look…”
The idea of a sightseeing road trip across parts of the U.S. had been a thought in the back of her mind for years, but it had only been a late-night conversation with Thor in London prior to their return to the U.S. that had made Jane even actively consider it.
“I’ve actually thought it would be fun sometime to just take a long road trip, see some bucket list items,” she had commented as they cuddled together on the couch and conversed. Something about Thor being back for the foreseeable future had Jane talking about all sorts of things she hadn’t ever openly shared before.
Thor angled his head to try to directly look at her and questioningly knit his brow. “What keeps you from doing such a road trip?”
Jane blinked before she broke into a quiet laugh with a little shake of her head. “Mostly work and not wanting to do it alone, I guess. I haven’t wanted to miss any important readings and before that I was always busy with school, there just hasn’t ever been enough time.”
“Would Darcy and Erik not be interested in joining you?”
“Uh, Darcy probably yes if she could responsibly drop everything else for a while,” Jane said with a small nod, “and it’s not really something Erik would be too interested in these days, I think.”
“Mmm.” Thor slightly adjusted his arm around her as his expression turned endearingly hopeful and his voice grew softer. “If you would want, I could always accompany you.”
Jane leaned her head back against his shoulder to better look up at him and warmly smiled. “A road trip with you does sound like a pretty fun adventure.” After a second she sat straighter and made an eager sound as her expression brightened. “Wait, actually, that’d be good to try to keep SHIELD from checking in on us too much and I could always get readings on the road…” She started to grin. “I’d want to check if Darcy would be fine with doing her work alone before definitely saying yes, but maybe we could actually do this.”
Thor practically beamed at her. “How can I help you plan?”
She laughed and angled to kiss him. “That’s so romantic of you…”
Their final route consisted of a tentative plan between landmarks and other assorted sites of decided interest, complete with Darcy’s seal of approval before she had sent them off with a van full of varied snacks and a promise of the road trip’s latest possible end date for Jane to make it to a conference commitment.
(“And if you’re late I will start a national search for you,” Darcy had promised in a tone of voice where Jane couldn’t quite gauge how much she was joking.)
The sense of freedom to just drive and stop as they felt like it was admittedly exhilarating to Jane, not least of all because it meant that they could stop into places like the Petrified Forest National Park and assorted town’s visitor’s centers on a whim in addition to planned stops for stargazing and views like the Grand Canyon as they progressed westward.
“I’m really glad we’re doing this,” Jane whispered to Thor during one night of stargazing as they laid side by side on a blanket to look up at the uninterrupted expanse of the sky.
He turned his head to warmly smile at her. “I am as well.”