The front door swung open, and the entire group scrambled to their feet. Jane was barely three feet inside before Darcy launched herself at her, and Loki wasn't far behind. The latter risked taking his eyes off of Jane for a moment to glance Thor's way, only to find that Thor was staring at him, wide-eyed. He immediately looked away and focused on Jane.

When Jane managed to smack Darcy's hands away from her face, Loki stepped up.

"Look at me," he instructed.

Jane made a face and went to smack his hands away when he took his turn to cradle her face. "What're you doing, wha-"

"Just do it," Loki ordered. Before he could finish weaving magic into his fingers to ensure Jane was alright, he got yanked back. He turned around to face the accuser, then frowned when he saw it was Thor. "What do you want?" he demanded. His frown deepened when Thor stared at him. He noticed his brother's eyes were glossy. "What…?"

Thor immediately pulled him into what could've nearly been a bone-crushing hug. "Even after Mother, I thought it was you. I thought it was truly you," he breathed.

When Thor tightened his grip on him, Loki tried to elbow his way out of it. "Let go of me."

"No. Allow me this," Thor countered.

Loki stilled, at his tone alone. "… What happened?"

"You died," Thor deadpanned. "For us. For me."

Loki felt the admission tug on his heartstrings. Immediately after, he had to wonder just how powerful that one copy he had sent with them had actually been, or how strong his magic had become. He hadn't felt anything, he hadn't… ordered the copy to do anything, this… would he have done that for Thor, after everything? It didn't make sense. Still, something had shifted between them, so he allowed Thor to hold onto him for a while longer. Of course, that only qualified as a few more seconds in his book. He patted Thor's back a handful of times, getting harder with each hit until Thor pulled back. "And what of the Aether?"

"Gone from Jane," Thor replied. "But… Malekith has taken it in himself. And plans to destroy Earth for interfering with his plans."

Loki sighed. "Well, what homicidal maniac wouldn't?" he countered. When Thor gave him a pointed look, he made a face. "It was one time and you destroyed the Destroyer," he shot back. "More importantly, how long do we have?"

"Hours at best," Jane supplied.

Loki raised his eyebrows. "Well, that's hardly surprising at all. At least we got days of notice the last time." He turned to Jane and started to examine her.

After a few moments of silence brought on by Loki's concentration and Jane's confusion that brought on uninterrupted eye contact, Thor smirked. "Need I be jealous of you two?"

"Need you constantly be an ass?" Loki replied without missing a beat. He waited a few more seconds, then nodded. "I can't sense a thing. She's clear," he reported. Then, after a moment to Jane. "I can't promise there won't be… lasting effects, speaking from personal experience…."

"And Erik?" Jane added.

"And Erik," Loki agreed.

There was the sound of footsteps behind the group as Erik and Frigga arrived into the room. Thor crossed the room in a couple of strides and yanked Frigga into an equally strong hug as his last. Jane did the same, and then Erik did the same to Jane.

"Right," Erik agreed and pulled back immediately, then, "Well, I suppose this Malekith's plan isn't exactly surprising. All of those readings are spreading everywhere, all over London.

Jane nodded. "Show me the research."

Erik immediately ushered her down the hallway to show up. Frigga followed them, reporting that she would offer what other-worldly knowledge they might need.

A couple of hours later, the group was huddled in the same spot. There were three laptops and several of Jane's write-ups scattered between them .

"Malekith is going to start here because it's the most prominient waypoint as the Convergence is going on. He starts here, he gets everything.

"The effect will be universal.," Erik pointed out.

"The aligment is only temporary, he must be in exactly the right spot at the right time."

"How will we know where that is?" Darcy asked.

"We follow the directions," Erik answered. He motioned at the others to follow him. He got more maps out and dumped them on the nearest surface he could find. "This has happened before, thousands of years ago, and the ancients were there to see it. All the great constructions. The Mayans, the Egpytians, the Chinese, they made use of the gravitational effects of the Convergence, and they left us a map," he said. He retrieved a ruler from the nearby desk and placed it on the map. He marked several of he sites he had mentioned, then drew lines between them. "They are all coordinates taking us too... here." When the lines connected just right of London, the mortals groaned, and the humans glanced around, perplexed.

"Lots of people. Lots of innocent people," Darcy explained. She looked at Thor and Loki. "You guys have seen most of it. It's… gonna be just as bad as New York. Damage-wise and army wise, by the sound of it."

"The walls will be almost non-existent. Physics is going to go ballistic: increases and decreases in gravity,spatial extrusions. The very fabric of reality is going to be torn apart," Jane explained.

At the mere mention of such hypothetical danger, Thor called Mjolnir to him. He didn't bother hiding his grin when the Hammer seemed to slow and just about hesitate as it flew by Loki. "Sure you don't want to give it a try?"

"It was far too bulky and handled clumsily. It's you, just weaponized. I'll be fine with my daggers," Loki countered.

Thor nodded. He gave Mjolnir an experimental swing, then motioned at Loki. "Suit up. We're leaving as soon as we can."

Loki was back in his armor in a wave of his hand. He turned his attention back to the others. "We'll be in the car, then."

Thor shook his head. He grabbed Loki by the arm and proceeded to drag him outside. He lifted Mjolnir, and the pair were gone in a flash of lightning.

Finally, Ian piped up from the back of the group. "Is… will I ever get to a point when I'll get used to that?"

"The shock wears off by about the third time," Darcy countered.

"If you're having trouble with that, you should have seen the lightshow when they do that while arguing," Frigga replied.

Ian merely shrunk back, mumbling something to himself.

Before long, the others had packed the car, and were well on their way to Greenwich.

By the time Loki and Thor had found them when they reached where they needed to be, Loki's mind was scattered all over again. Darcy's point about this being New York all over again hadn't been lost on him. Yes, now he was free of the Tesseract's influence, but then what? His copy had apparently died by Malekith's hand- or even one of his henchmen's hands. The Other had managed to kill him as well, but he still felt like this was different. The Other had killed a copy he had barely concentrated on. He had put more effort into this one, and Thor of all people had been utterly shaken by it. He couldn't help but be fearful he'd suffer the same fate and fail the others as badly as he nearly had in New York.

For the first time, Thor seemed to sense his concern. He stopped in his tracks and put his arm out to stop Loki. "We've been through worse."

"This could be the worst," Loki countered.

Thor frowned. "You've hardly ever backed down from challenges, what-"

"I have something to lose now, and it's all in one convenient place, right in the center of danger," Loki replied.

"They're the strongest mortals we know. We will all be fine," Thor insisted. He took Loki by the neck. "I love you, little brother."

Loki blinked at him. "Ugh," was his only reply before he spotted Darcy as she and Ian started to unload the car and went to help them.

He had barely walked ten feet when he saw something parting the nearby waters. He could vaguely make out a cone shape the size of a building. He swore under his breath and put his hands up to summon a shield in front of the others. "Time to go!"

Darcy and Ian didn't waste time to argue. Not that they had much choice, considering the moment they got their gear and got ready to retreat, the cone started to take on texture and a black color- and crashed into the area where water met land- and kept going. The shield was obliterated in moments. Loki turned to Thor. "Mother's with Jane and Erik making sure everything is sound. I'll take care of these two. Go find the bastard."

Thor nodded, lifted Mjolnir, and in another flash, he was gone.

Loki turned back towards Darcy and Ian, only to find that they were halfway across the lot, trying to set up the next bit of equipment and dodge rubble at the same time. He hurried over and tossed up another shield. Once they got the last piece set up, Loki all but dragged them behind a building.

Darcy frowned at him. "What're we-"

"Laying low until we're needed," Loki replied.

"But-"

"I've come close to losing you twice now, I'm not doing it again," Loki snapped. When Darcy gaped at him for a moment, he realized just how raw that had come out. He froze at the admission and went to open his mouth to come up with something to add to cover it up. There was a whir above them, and he found out he had been saved by the Convergence making itself known. A ring opened in the sky. Saved by a disaster. Well, wasn't that poetic and so like his life. He looked at Darcy, who had pulled out her phone to check in. There was that, too.

There was another whirring sound, and the group turned to see what was going on. One of the tripods pulsed, and half of the elf creatures that had been marching nearby it immediately disappeared.

Darcy laughed. "That was awesome! How did you do that?!" she asked.

"Not the time," Loki cut in, seeing the other elves had quickened their pace upon seeing the group. He snarled and stepped out. He summoned dagger after dagger, throwing them at whatever elf he deemed too close.

"Oh! Get the guy with the sword!" Darcy instructed from behind him.

He looked towards the elf in question and raised his hand, only to hear another pulse, and suddenly they were no longer in the same place they had been. He glanced behind them to ensure the others were still there. They were, and looked just as confused as he felt.

"What the Hell just happened?!" Darcy asked.

The moment was interrupted once again as one of the elves seemed to fall from the sky, not unlike what had happened in the parking garage a little while back.

Loki took no small amount of pleasure in hearing just how cowardly Ian's answering scream sounded. His glee didn't last long, considering another elf managed to land directly on a car a few yards from them and started to run for them. He started walking backwards. "GO!" he ordered. He hurled a dagger towards it. When more elves started pouring into the area, he shook his head and started to run backwards, attacking whoever he could.

They had run three blocks when another swarm cut them off. Loki tossed up another shield, only for the elves to start cowering at something to their right. Loki immediately took point at the group, ready for anything… until he saw just what had spooked- and had just started to tear through the elves.

The same kind of creature that Thor had killed on Jotunheim that had nearly flattened them all. One of the elves turned to him, and he grinned. "You're in luck, it'll be quick," he reported before he promptly shoved Darcy and Ian to the side, urging them towards the adjacent road.

Of course, that landed them right in the middle of another swarm of elves- one of which had a gun of sorts. It fired off a round that missed Darcy's head by about two inches, and then all the relief Loki had felt a moment before promptly left his system. Worry set in, then skyrocketed when another elf who was wielding a sword came at her, and even with a copy, he doubted he was going to make it in time to get her out of the way or attack the elf. He started to do the former, and then out of the corner of his eye, saw a car suddenly come straight for the elf, as well as the one that was beside it. The car suddenly came down on the elves, immediately flattening them. Loki went wide-eyed and looked in the direction the car had come, only to see Ian panting like he had just thrown something. It took him a moment and an additional look around to see that Ian had managed it because the cars seem to have been affected by a gravitational reversal. He was relieved that Ian hadn't kept an other-wordly secret from them, but as much as it pained him to admit it, he was impressed. He had just saved Darcy's life. And then that particular fact hit him. Ian had saved her. He hadn't. If Ian hadn't been there, Darcy would've been dead, and it would've been on him. He would've lost the second most important thing in his life. He let the grief settle in until he looked at Darcy again and saw the plain dreamy look she suddenly had, directed at Ian.

"You saved my life," Darcy pointed out.

Loki glanced at Ian, then back. The pair of them had equally dreamy expressions now, and were headed towards each other. And every single negative emotion that had gripped him in the last minute, and he didn't give a damn about the details. All that went through his mind was 'Move, damn it.' The other two were getting closer. "Not bloody likely!" he muttered. He promptly stepped between them, straight armed Ian out of the way, closed the remaining distance between himself and Darcy, and kissed her.

Now that he had won, every single emotion that had gone on came flooding back. Concern, relief, guilt- he poured it all into that one action. When he pulled back, he refused to look away from her, even if she was gaping at him all over again. "Well, he gets the one, I've saved you at least six times over by now so I-"

"God, do you ever shut up?"

Loki smirked. "Well, I-"

"Not the point. Get back here, you ass. You don't just do that and leave it like that."

When she followed that up with yanking him into another kiss, he pulled her closer and returned it just as eagerly.

"Uh, guys, the… creepy elf things are back. Danger…" Ian chimed in from behind them.

Neither of them paid him any mind. After a couple of moments, Loki felt something at his back and there was another strange shift in gravity, then the mechanical whir started up again. The lighting around them changed, so he knew they were at a different place then before, or back at the first.

Then, from the side. "Loki?! Darcy?!"

The pair opened their eyes at Jane's voice. He promptly hit the ground. After a moment, he noticed he barely had a couple of feet to fall before he hit the ground, and he had nearly been horizontal when he had. It took him a moment to realize Darcy must've dipped him at some point during the kiss. He looked at Jane, and then at Erik. The pair were wearing matching surprised-but-also-not-surprised looks. Frigga, on the other hand, was just short of beaming.

" 'Dearest friend and nothing more?'" she quoted him from all that time ago.

Loki went to grimace, and then promptly decided he had nothing to feel guilty about. Until he realized things were still getting destroyed around them. Then, of course, danger seemed to do him a favor by way of distraction. Mjolnir flew past them and swung around the corner.

They followed it until it whizzed the other direction. They didn't have long to wonder about it. Tendrils of the Aether rose from the ground on the other side of the building they were on.

Loki magicked up another shield that Frigga reinforced, and then the group started towards it. When they turned the corners, the sky was now filled with rings that showed varying colored worlds on the other side.

"Where the Hell is Thor?" Loki wondered aloud.

"We're out of time," Jane said. "Loki, drop the shield for a second."

"If you die-"

"We're all going to die if I don't try something!" Jane objected.

Loki stared at her for a moment, then let the shield disappear. Jane ran ahead and Loki brought the shield back up. Above them, the Aether continued to rise up towards the rings.

The group hurried after her. By the time they found her, they were relieved to find that Thor was back from wherever he had been.

"We're too late," Jane reported.

Erik looked up at the Aether. "The Convergence is at its peak."

Thor nodded at their equipment. "Can that stop it?"

"Not from here," Erik explained.

"We can't get close enough," Jane added.

"I can!" Thor countered. He immediately started marching towards the clearing where the Aether was coming from- and where Malekith was, without a doubt.

"Thor!" Frigga objected.

Loki took her by the arm. "You know as well as I we couldn't convince him not to. He wants to be the hero, let him," he told her. "And for his sake, the least I can do is keep you all safe. Again." The air thickened and went red as if on cue, and Loki put all he could into the shield. The sound of things collapsing was nearly immediately drowned out by the hum of the Aether. It got damned near unbearable, until it finally stopped. The air started to clear almost instantaneously. There was a creak from above them, and they all looked up to see Malekith's ship suddenly start falling down towards the ground. It finished its decent with another creak of protest and a giant crash from it hitting the ground.

It was silent for the next few seconds. Nothing made a sound- no people, no animals, even the buildings seemed to have finished collapsing.

They all ran for the sight of the crash. Sure enough, Thor was there in the middle of it, laying on the ground but visibly breathing. Jane just about threw herself to his side.

Erik was the first to speak. "… Everybody okay?"

Thor groaned and opened his eyes after a moment. He wrapped one arm around Jane's waist, but made no effort to do anything else.

Loki scoffed. "I think 'okay' is relative at the moment." The others murmured their agreement. He looked Darcy's way for a moment. "We made it," he mused.

"Yep," she agreed, and immediately yanked him down into another kiss.

Loki scoffed into it, but returned it all the same. So, they were all alive, no one was worse for the wear except Thor, which he'd take, and he had finally gotten the girl.

He'd count that as 'okay.'