Chapter 10
"And how did you lose your pants again?" Darcy asked, making no effort at all to hide her amusement at the idea of a world-renowned astrophysicist running around Stonehenge in his tighty-whities.
Upon leaving the police station, Darcy and Ian caught Coulson and Erik up on what happened with Jane and Thor. Not that there was much to tell. The two of them had jetted off without bothering to explain where she'd been and there had been no word since. After that, there was some kind of video conference with SHIELD, who had picked up the same disturbances Jane was chasing but were a little short on useful information about what was actually happening. Unfortunately, the floating cement truck and the magic stairwell—which the SHIELD geeks were nowhere near excited enough about in Darcy's opinion—was pretty much all they knew. That was when Erik dropped the bombshell. Apparently there was some kind of crazy interstellar madness headed their way that was going to wreak all kinds of havoc that he maybe had a way to minimize. Maybe.
Once he told SHIELD everything he knew, the three civilians were promptly booted from the call. Coulson had gone down the hall and shut himself in the room farthest from the kitchen and continued with his super-secret conversation, leaving the the rest of them with not much to do but get to the bottom of Erik's pantless escapades. The trio was seated around the kitchen table in Jane's rented flat. It was well past midnight but no one seemed inclined to sleep, not after the wild day they'd had.
"The spike on one of my gravometric rods caught my pant leg and ripped it open."
"So naturally you just took them off."
Erik sighed. "I thought I had extra clothes in the car. Of course, that was when the police showed up."
"And arrested you for vandalizing Stonehenge. In your underwear."
Erik just shrugged while Darcy and Ian glanced at each other. They managed to last two whole seconds before they both burst out laughing. They were still laughing when Coulson reappeared. It was freaky how he did that. No one ever seemed to see or hear him come and go, he was just suddenly there.
"Doctor Selvig, tell me again about this impending event."
Selvig sat up a little straighter in his chair. "The Nine realms rotate on a five thousand year cycle. Once a cycle, the worlds align. Normally they're all separate but during the alignment, everything is connected. All nine realms are passing through each other. Gravity, light, even matter is crashing from one world to another.
Darcy stole a glance at Coulson, who was nodded along with Erik's explanation. "Dude, don't even pretend you understood what that means."
"I do spend a lot of time with our scientists, Ms. Lewis," he told her. "They've picked up anomalies like what the three of you described all over the United Kingdom. So far, no serious damage has been done, but they tell me it won't stay that way."
"They're right," Erik said. "The anomalies will continue to spread across the world the closer we get to the peak of the event. Five thousand years ago the effects would merely be disruptive but today, with the size and population density of modern civilization, it will be cataclysmic. My gravometric spikes should stabilize the focal point so the alignment and the other worlds just pass us by."
Darcy clapped her hands together. "Great. Where is it?"
Erik reached up and rubbed one hand on the back of his neck. "I had some data that suggested Stonehenge. The readings I gathered there indicate it's a significant location but it's not the focal point. I'll have to start again."
"I guess you better get to work then, Doctor."
Darcy and Ian got up from the kitchen table to leave him room to work while Coulson pulled his disappearing act again, vanishing without a sound. She settled on the couch with Ian and turned on the tv. She pretended not to notice the way he inched closer to her over the next hour until their thighs were almost touching. If he was anyone else, she'd tease him mercilessly for it but he was so sweetly shy about the whole thing she couldn't bring herself to do it. She just had this image of him closing off like a turtle disappearing into its shell and never speaking to her again and the thought made her sad. So instead of teasing, she shifted so she was leaning against him, closing the last little bit of distance separating them and resting her head on his shoulder. She couldn't see it, but she could practically feel him grinning.
Over at the table, things weren't going so well. Selvig was poring over books and computer readouts and emitting an array of frustrated noises. That went on for another hour before he got up with an irritated grunt and headed down the hall to the room where Jane kept her research material.
"That didn't sound good," Ian whispered.
"Nah, he's just a drama queen," Darcy replied at a normal volume. "Plus, he's probably worried about Jane."
She felt a fresh pang of worry. They still had no idea what happened to Jane while she was missing or what the deal was with her and the smashed up police cars or what happened after Thor whisked her away. It was like they were stuck in a hospital waiting room with nothing to do but sit there until there was news, except it was worse because Jane wasn't just down the hall, she was on another planet, and they had no idea when or even if they'd hear anything about her. Coulson claimed not to know anything more than they did, though given who he was and who he worked for, he probably wouldn't tell them if he did. Erik at least had something productive to fill the time. All Darcy could do was channel surf, flipping through the few stations for the eleventh time hoping in vain to find something interesting that she missed the first ten.
Coulson emerged from wherever it was he went when he pulled his David Copperfield act. "Where's Doctor Selvig?"
Darcy pointed down the hall.
"Has he made any progress?"
"Didn't sound like it," she said. "Unless unintelligible grumbling is a good sign."
"Maybe we should all call it a night," Ian suggested. "Start again in the morning."
Coulson shook his head. "There was another incident, this one in central London. A flock of starlings-"
"Murmuration," Ian sad softly.
Darcy craned her neck to look at him. "Muh-muh what now?"
"The starlings. A group of starlings is a murmuration. My dad used to take me bird watching as a kid."
"Nerd."
Coulson continued as if the interruption hadn't happened. "-disappeared mid-flight and reappeared out of the ground. We need to find the focal point and stabilize it before a major incident occurs and there's mass panic."
A light knock sounded at the door.
"Are you expecting someone?" Coulson asked, right hand already poised over his sidearm.
"Chill out, Rambo. The police don't even carry guns around here."
Darcy got up and went to the door. She opened it and was met by a few familiar faces along with some unfamiliar ones.
"Sorry," Jane said by way of greeting. "I don't know what happened to my-oof!"
She was cut off by Darcy throwing her arms around her neck. "I'm so glad you're back. The world is going crazy."
"I guess it's good we're here then," Jane replied into her shoulder.
Darcy let her go. "I'm serious. The stuff we saw at the warehouse, it's spreading and... wait, what are you wearing? Were you partying up there?"
Jane looked down at her gown and when she looked up, her expression had turned dark. "No. We were definitely not partying."
"Are you okay?" Darcy asked, worried by her sudden seriousness.
"It's been a long day."
"But that whole thing with the red stuff and-"
"It's gone."
The terse reply told Darcy she shouldn't ask any more, so she turned her attention to the others. "Welcome back, Muscles. Who are your friends?"
Thor smiled. At least he was in a better mood. He gestured a tall dark-haired woman who dwarfed Darcy. "This is Lady Sif, the fiercest warrior in all of Asgard."
It was a good thing Sif smiled or she'd be crazy intimidating with her ridiculous height and the double pointed spear thing she held in one hand. Actually, no, she was intimidating even with the smile.
"This rogue is Fandral," Thor said, moving on to the blond man with the goatee standing next to Sif. "There is no one better with a blade."
Fandral smiled too but his was slightly different from the one Sif offered. It was a little too smooth to be genuinely charming or friendly. It was made worse by the way he looked her up and down. No way was he not mentally undressing her. And not making much of an effort to not look like it, either.
"My lady," he said, stepping forward. He took her hand and kissed the back of it. Even that innocent gesture had a lascivious bent to it.
"Easy there, Valentino," Darcy replied, drawing her hand back. "Nowadays we just shake hands."
"How frightfully dull," Fandral returned with a lop-sided grin.
"And this," Thor jumped in before anyone else could speak again, "is Volstagg."
To Darcy's enormous relief, Volstagg didn't try to copy Fandral's gesture. She wasn't keen to find out how his long, curly beard would feel against her hand. Instead, he just gave her a little bow.
"I'm Darcy," she told the newcomers. "That's Ian and Agent Coulson."
"Phil," Coulson amended. "It's good to see you again, Thor. And you Doctor Foster. Especially now."
"Why, what's happened?" Jane asked.
"Ms. Lewis was only exaggerating a little. We've been tracking the progress of an interstellar event that's causing problems here. I'm sure Doctor Selvig would welcome your help dealing with it."
Jane's eyebrows furrowed. "The Convergence is already manifesting here?"
Coulson raised an eyebrow in turn. "You're aware of it, then."
"Yes, but we didn't see any signs on Asgard," Thor said.
"Midgard is the center of the Convergence," Jane explained. "It makes sense that its effects would start here and then radiate outward. You mentioned Erik is working on this?"
"He thinks he has a way to stabilize the event at its focal point, but he hasn't found it yet."
"I've got it!" came a distant and very excited voice. Erik came barrelling out of Jane's office with his arms full of books and maps. "I've got it. I can't believe it took me so long to see."
He dumped everything on the table and looked up which was when he noticed there were many more people in the room now than when he left.
"Jane!" he exclaimed, lunging at her and gathering her into a bear hug. "I'm so glad you're here. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she said, smiling for the first time since arriving.
Erik let go of her to shake Thor's hand and after a hasty introduction to the others, got down to business.
"It occurred to me this has happened before. Thousands of years ago and the ancient civilizations were there to see it. All the great constructions, the Mayans, the Chinese, the Egyptians, they all made use of the gravitational effects of the Convergence. They left us a map."
He spread out a map of Great Britain and started marking off various spots. Then he connected the lines across the country. They all intersected at the same point.
"Greenwich," Ian said in disbelief.
Coulson stared at the map. "Damn. I was hoping it would be somewhere less populated. People are going to panic."
Unlike him, Darcy was watching the Asgardians as they exchanged a grave look. "What, what is that? Why are you looking at each other like it's worse than we think?"
"Because it is worse than you think," Thor told her.
"Of course it is. Why did I ask?" she muttered.
"That stuff you saw come out of me, that was caused by an infinity stone," Jane said.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah."
She went on to explain what the red stuff, the Aether, was and what it could do. When she finished, Thor told them about a crazy scheme they'd come up with that was supposed to both get it out of Jane and stop some alien dude who had a serious grudge against Asgard and the universe in general from using it himself. They only succeeded at one out of two. Alien dude then made off with the thing after one of his minions almost killed Thor's brother.
"Malekith seeks to finish what he began so many years ago," Thor said at the end of the tale.
Picking up the story again, Jane added, "And he's going to do it here. Earth is in the middle of the Nine realms, they're all connected through us. From what I read in Loki's notes, firing off the Aether here will magnify its impact. With each new realm it reaches, the effects will be magnified."
"What effects?" Darcy asked, having not learned her lesson about asking questions with terrible answers.
"It will be like the laws of physics just cease to exist. The fabric of reality will tear itself apart."
"So... bad."
"It is, indeed," Thor said. "However, now we know where Malekith is going to be and when. We will be ready for him."
Coulson crossed his arms over his chest. "Thor, I need you to level with me. If Malekith can weaponize an infinity stone, can you actually beat him?"
Muscles drew himself up to his full height. "I swore an oath to protect this world. Even if we must fight to the death, I will see it done."
If that was meant to be reassurance, it didn't feel like it to Darcy. Not when it left her with a sinking feeling that it was going to take exactly that to save them all.
~~~|~~~
Morning dawned after a mostly sleepless night. Jane and Erik were up 'til the wee hours of the morning modifying devices of his invention to minimize and take advantage of the disturbances brought by the Convergence. As for Thor, he spent the time discussing possible strategies with his fellow Asgardians. Their efforts were somewhat hampered by not knowing exactly how Malekith would make his appearance and by the fact that the best strategist in Asgard was absent. Thor often caught himself looking to his side where his brother was so often to be found. He would start to wonder why Loki hadn't contributed to the discussion only to remember he wasn't there at all. It left Thor feeling as though he were missing a part of himself.
Though his brother's lack felt strange, he was also relieved that Loki had kept his word and not come to Midgard while he was yet healing. Thor hadn't said it aloud to anyone, but he hoped his recovery would take longer than the battle. He was sure it would insult Loki if he knew but Thor never entirely stopped thinking of him as his little brother. They were both grown, it was true, and each very powerful in their own right. In fact, he knew there were areas in which Loki far outpaced him. Even so, he still felt it was his duty to protect him. It was a duty he forced himself to ignore at Loki's assistance in allowing his brother to face Malekith alone. The idea of watching him facing such danger again so soon was unthinkable. He felt a surge of guilt when he thought of how his friends were about to charge into that danger themselves, yet he was not quite as burdened by their fates as he was his brother's. There shouldn't have been such a difference, he knew. A commander cannot decide that certain warriors have more value than others and one day, he would be the supreme commander of Asgard's forces. When the time came, he would have to be willing to send his friends and yes, even his loved ones, into danger, or even to their deaths.
That time was not yet, however, and Thor allowed himself the luxury of being glad his brother was safely away from the battle. Of course, if Thor and the others failed, Asgard would be no safer than anywhere else on Yggdrasil, so they must not fail.
As the appointed time grew near, they all climbed into two of the mechanized conveyances that were everywhere on Midgard. Many of the ones in this part of the realm were so small he doubted that he or anyone of Asgardian stature would fit inside them. The one driven by Coulson was much larger, though, and even Volstagg and his girth easily fit. Jane, Erik, Darcy and Ian somehow managed to squeeze into Jane's much smaller one. Thor thought it unwise to allow the mortals to join in such a battle knowing just how powerful their foe was but they would not hear of being left behind. Erik and Jane said they best understood the tools needed to stabilize the effects of the Convergence and that they could not reliably teach the others what to do in so short a period of time. That may have been part of it, but Thor suspected it was more to do with the natural desire to defend their home, and though he didn't like it, he couldn't fault them for it either.
Their small convoy arrived at the focal point with little time to spare. There was no sign of Malekith as yet, but they remained on guard anyway. Since their enemy could hide his ship from sight, there would be precious little time to react once it appeared. While Thor directed Sif, Fandral and Volstagg to various strategic points, Coulson left them to go check the surrounding buildings to make sure the evacuation order he'd called for had been carried out. Jane gave Darcy and Ian their instructions.
"Hammer these in all around the site," she said, opening the back hatch of her vehicle. "Deep enough they won't be easily knocked over. Once they're in, Erik and I will activate them from the tower."
They took off toward the building, leaving the other two behind. Ian was looking at Erik's creations with a dubious expression.
"Hey, focus," Darcy told him sharply. "We've gotta get these things in the ground so Jane can do her sciency stuff and save the world."
Ian picked up one of the rods. "Darcy, they're held together with tape."
"Do you even know what these things do?"
"No."
After a beat, Darcy admitted, "Neither do I."
The two of them barely got started when a commotion arose from near the waterfront. A huge splash erupted from the surface of the water, followed by a low rumble. The disturbed water got closer and just before it reached land, there was a deafening boom, louder than any thunder Darcy had ever heard. The air above the water rippled like a heat shimmer and in between one blink and the next, a ship appeared.
It moved toward them, breaking through the river's bank and carving a deep gouge in the earth. The impact sent shock waves reverberating through the ground, breaking windows and cracking the stonework of the buildings. Finally, it came to a stop, a stark black monolith towering over everything.
"Holy sh-"
Darcy was cut off by Ian grabbing her hand and yanking her arm as he took off running away from the ship. Her heart beat so hard she could feel it in the back of her throat and the sensible part of her brain was shouting at her to just keep running, to find somewhere to hide and let Muscles and the Extremely Tall Trio handle things. She ignored it, not because of a lack of sense, but because she knew there were still three rods to plant before Jane and Erik's plan could work. They were counting on her and Ian, and so was the rest of the planet.
Thor watched from one of the rooftops as Darcy and Ian ducked behind one of the buildings. Turning his eyes back to the ship, he saw a red light appear near the top that descended down to ground level where it opened to reveal a transport pod. The pod opened, and from it spilled dozens of dark elf warriors, followed by the Kursed, and at last, Malekith.
Thor let Mjolnir's handle slide through his grip until he felt the leather strap at the end. He spun the great hammer and took to the air, a rumble of thunder accompanying his takeoff. He landed hard, leaving a spiderweb of cracks in the brick path below his feet.
Malekith raised his chin as their gazes met, a clear challenge written in his eyes. The Aether both deepened his voice and gave it an unnatural echo, as if it came from several places all at once.
"You needn't have come so far, Asgardian. Death would have come for you soon enough."
"Not by your hand," Thor returned.
"Your universe was never meant to be. You, your world and your family will be extinguished.
Before Thor could raise his own weapon, Malekith lashed out with the Aether, throwing him high in the air and dropping him hard on his back. He lifted his head and gave the signal for the others to engage but he only just got back to his feet before there came an almighty roar and another blow that sent him flying even farther away from the ship. He crashed through several pillars of the nearest building before one held and brought an abrupt end to his flight. In the now distant fray, he could see his friends battling the dark elves while Malekith stood back, only deigning to strike when it seemed the Asgardians might overwhelm his own men.
Thor had every intention of joining them but between himself and the battle, stood the Kursed, the source of the second blow. The creature's eyes glowed a fiery orange, a sure sign the dark power had almost consumed him. Its death was not far off but until then, it would only grow more powerful. There was no hope of defeating Malekith if he had both the Aether and the Kursed to defend him.
Thor pushed himself to his feet just as the Kursed reached him. He swung his hammer with all his strength but the beast barely flinched at the blow. Arm cocked, he tried again, but this time the Kursed caught Mjolnir's head before it landed. It threw its other fist into the underside of Thor's jaw, snapping his head back with enough force to make the bones of his neck grind. The blow threw him back into the open, with grass, dirt and stone flying up into the air as he landed.
Dazed, he rolled from his back onto his hands and knees. In his mouth he tasted the bitter tang of blood and he felt a stirring of fear. He already knew the Kursed possessed immense strength but if just a few blows could do this, a strike in the right place might actually kill him.
He hadn't yet lifted his head when a shadow fell over him. A burning hand wrapped around his throat and dragged him out of the crater made by his landing. With all the effort of a child tossing a plaything, the Kursed threw him toward another set of pillars. By the time he came to a stop, his head swam so viciously that he lost all track of how many pillars he broke. Something like Asgard's klaxon rang loud in his ears and no matter how much he blinked, something kept obscuring his vision.
He had to get up, he knew that much. He had to fight back somehow or the beast would surely finish him. Mjolnir lay on its head beside him, as if it was waiting for him to take it up but when he made to reach for it, his arm wouldn't obey. He tried again but only managed the barest movement. It was as if his whole body was submerged in impossibly thick mire and no matter what he did, he couldn't pull himself out of it.
A dark shape drew close to him. Dark, with glowing orange eyes. And all Thor could do was watch.