Chapter 40 – Darkness Cometh (2)

(Central London - United Kingdom – Earth – November 12th, 2013 – Late Morning)

Although the high-end restaurant was bustling and filled with people, the table that Jane was currently sitting at was quiet as the grave. She gave a quick glance at her 'date' and instantly regretted the decision as he caught her looking and smiled at her. Jane quickly raised her menu to hide her face and started cursing herself for letting her friends talk her into going out.

'Like you had anything better to do since golden-haired god boy ditched you to go do whatever he was doing.' Jane thought to herself sadly remembering the reasoning she had used to justify the date. She had to live in the moment and forget about the radiant, chiselled god whose biceps she could just-. 'FOCUS JANE' her brain screamed at her remembering that said god was the one who had left her behind, and then when he did come back didn't even bother to say hi before running off again.

It was then that Jane noticed her date, Richard Madison, had leaned forward and slipped a napkin under her menu with the simple message saying 'Hi'. She immediately put down her menu and gave a strained smile. She would have found the action cute if she didn't feel so embarrassed.

"Hi" Richard greeted Jane with a bit of awkwardness as he looked at his menu before closing it to focus on the beautiful woman sitting across from him.

"Hi" Jane replied nervously, giving her date a smile and setting down her own menu still having no idea why she was on this rendezvous or what she wanted to eat.

"So, what's the story with you?" Richard asked politely, giving Jane a friendly smile.

"Why does there have to be a story?" Jane asked a little too quickly, her nervousness very evident in the way she was talking. "There's no story, nope no story whatsoever"

"Yeah…." Richard stretched out his response whilst his own awkward smile reappeared on his face. "You've spent the first ten minutes of our date hiding behind a menu that only has three choices. It's either chicken, vegetarian or fish, Jane. So, I think there's a story and I'm thinking it involves a guy?"

Jane's timid smile slowly fell as Richard spoke, both at her alarm about how easy he was reading her and at her own sense of stupidity in trying to hide the obvious. Although she was regretting her decision to accept this blind date her friends had set up, Richard was clearly a clever guy who didn't deserve to be talked down to.

"It's complicated," Jane admitted, thinking how "My sort-of-ex is a ridiculously hot alien and an Avenger" wasn't the best first date conversation.

"Is he still around?" Richard asked, thinking that the awkwardness Jane was feeling was because her ex was still in her life.

"No, he…." Jane trailed off for a moment trying to decide how to phrase "teleported up to Asgard home of the Gods and left me behind" In a way that sounded normal. "…. Went away."

"Oh, I've been there. The going away. It's hard, isn't it?" Richard sympathised with a smile of understanding, feeling like now that they were talking the date could go better. "I was seeing a woman, she was a doctor, well a geneticist actually, and she took a job in California with LuthorCorp. Eventually, the distance killed it…... that and that she was sleeping with other people."

"No!" Jane stated in shock, her own fear spiking as she suddenly thought about Thor and whether or not the reason he had not returned was because of another woman. I mean, what could she offer compared to a goddess of… like, beauty, or battle, or anything really.

"Oh, so many. Pam was bi too, so, women as well. So many people." Richard offered a small chuckle that earned one back from Jane, making him feel better about the date.

Suddenly a woman appeared next to their table, casually-dressed, and looked to be around the age of the waitstaff.

"Oh, um hi. Yes, could we please get some wine, please?" Richard asked as politely as he could.

"Yeah sure, I prefer beer but I'll take some." Darcy's casual comment caught the man off-guard, especially when the woman suddenly pulled a chair from a nearby table and sat down with them.

"Uhh, Richard this is Darcy," Jane sighed, giving a gesture to the other young woman sitting down, who gave her a not-so-subtle thumbs up regarding her date's looks. "What are you doing here?"

"So, I show up to work at the lab/your mom's house, fully expecting you to be moping around in your pyjamas eating ice-cream obsessing about-" Darcy's little speech was cut off by Jane clearing her throat whilst glaring at her. "…. You know who. BUT you're not. You're wearing lady clothes. You even showered, didn't you? You smell great. Doesn't she smell great?"

"Oh, um I …have no idea what is happening," Richard desperately looked over to Jane for help, who just shook her head at Darcy's antics.

"Darcy, is there a point to all this?" Jane asked quickly, plastering a fake smile on her face as she glared daggers at her friend. "Because there really needs to be a point to all this."

"Oh right." Darcy declared dropping the piece of bread she had stolen from Richard's plate as she fished out a strange device from her coat pocket. "You know all that scientific equipment you don't look at anymore? You might want to start looking at it again."

Jane took the device from Darcy; its screen was displaying the Earth and was showing astronomically huge energy spikes near their current location. The readings almost looked like the ones she had picked up in New Mexico, but they were rougher, almost like it was a natural event. Jane went quiet for a few moments as she moved the device back and forth through the air trying to get a bearing on what she was picking up.

"So, what do you think? This is the reason we came out here after all." Darcy spoke after watching Jane reengaging with the world of science again. A smile came to her face at the sight of the woman who was like her sister being herself again.

"It's malfunctioning," Jane said with a look of scientific curiosity on her face that Darcy had not seen in a long time.

"That's what I said,'' Darcy replied with a broad grin on her face as Jane started bashing the device on the table trying to align it correctly using the most technical method possible, hitting it. "... and that's what I did! I thought you might do something a little more scientific, but hey you do you."

"I'm sure it's nothing." Jane suddenly pushed the device back into Darcy's hands addressing Richard who was looking very confused, remembering she was supposed to be on a date.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure it's n-" Richard tried to agree with Jane wanting to continue his attempt at romance when Darcy butted in.

"It doesn't look like nothing." Darcy butted in, edging a little closer to Jane with a widening smile. "It kind of looks like the readings that Erik was rambling about. Oh sorry, our friend Erik, he kind of went banana balls"

"Oh, um that's nice. Wait-... no it isn't, I'm sorry I don't know why I said that" Richard replied to Darcy's statement about this Erik person and felt even more lost.

"Okay, it's time for you to go now." Jane declared slamming her hand on the table a little harder than she thought she had, causing Darcy and Richard to jump at the sudden action.

"Okkkayyyy" Darcy spoke slowly widening her eyes and looking between Jane and Richard before she pushed up from her chair and grabbed one last piece of bread before walking out of the restaurant.

"Short but sweet," Richard stated after Darcy had left his field of vision giving Jane a small chuckle and raise of his eyebrows.

"She needs help." Jane bluntly replied, giving her own forced chuckle, but her focus was now nowhere near this date and instead fixed on the readings she had seen.

"I think I'm going to have the Sea Bass," Richard said as he opened up his men along with Jane wanting to return to a normal date.

"Sea Bass, yeah. Sea Bass is good." Jane responded while her brain was not registering at all what her voice was saying as her mind was already racing, doing the calculations needed to pinpoint the origin of the energy spike. "Sea Bass, Sea Bass, Sea Bass, Sea Bass, Sea Bass, Sea Bass. Seeeeeeeea Bass…"

Richard just waited patiently for Jane to finish but when she merely continued to say Sea Bass as she stared blankly at her upside-down menu, he decided to call it. Taking a deep breath and making a decision he was likely going to regret, he closed his menu and focused on his date.

"Jane?" Richard spoke, causing Jane to snap out of her stupor and look at him. "Maybe you should stop saying 'Sea Bass' and go after your friend."

Jane's reaction was immediate; she quickly closed her menu and was already grabbing her coat, and handbag. Her chair was empty before he even finished the sentence.

"This was so fun," Jane said as she scrambled to grab everything she had brought. "We should definitely do it again sometime."

"Yeah we shou- aaaaannnnnddddd she's gone," Richard said as he looked up and saw his date was practically running for the door.

As Jane exited the restaurant she spotted that Darcy's car was parked right by the front door with the passenger door open and her best friend sitting smugly in the driver's seat. Jane couldn't help but roll her eyes as she got into the car, fake anger in her voice as she spoke.

"And I hate you," Jane said as she put on her seatbelt. Darcy started the car with a grin on her face.

"WHAT?" Darcy asked rhetorically with a smile on her face. "I think he's cute! and hey, I didn't make you leave."

"Just shut up and drive," Jane grimaced. Her first shot at being normal since gods being her life, and it had blown up so badly.

"Cool. Intern, where are we heading?" Darcy's declaration was made out loud and caused her to have a confused look on her face.

"You want to go to the end of the street and turn left." Jane was startled as she spun around to see a young man with red hair and freckles sitting in the back seat. Although he spoke with a perfect English accent, and looked like a college student Jane thought he seemed familiar.

"Um, Darcy, who the hell is this?" Jane asked, pointing at the redhead who she was trying to place but failing.

"Oh, he's my intern." Darcy casually declared as she pulled out and started driving down the street.

"You have an intern?" Jane asked, very confused about what was happening.

"Oh yeah." Darcy declared, giving a casual shrug as if the news was not really that interesting.

"Oh hello, Dr. Foster." The red-haired intern said with true eagerness as he tried to offer his hand whilst holding the device Darcy had shown Jane earlier. "It's such an honour to be working with you."

Jane just looked back out of the front windscreen and closed her eyes praying that she was dreaming, and that Darcy hadn't actually done something stupid like taking on an intern. They were trying to keep a low profile. Jane was trying to get back to real science and after the whole thing with You Know Who she had left SHIELD behind and was trying to rebuild her life away from magic alien space gods and espionage agencies.

The journey didn't take long as Jane's thoughts lingered on superspies and other more distracting thoughts, which earned her a sly smile from Darcy when she saw her friend daydreaming. Jane's face went slightly red and was about to say something when the car suddenly stopped in what looked like an old industrial estate by the river.

"Come on, this is exciting!" Darcy declared leaping out from the vehicle with a wide grin on her face happy Jane was back to doing things instead of moping for Thor. "Look, even the intern is excited!"

"Oh yes, it's real exciting, I'm very hap-" The red-haired intern responded only to be cut off by Darcy ignoring him.

"Do you want the phase meter?" Darcy asked Jane, earning a shake of her head as that piece of equipment was redundant, but Darcy ignored that, relishing in her authority over her intern. "Bring the phase meter. It's the toaster-looking thing."

The red-haired man deftly caught the keys thrown at him and released a deep sigh as the two women of science rushed off to explore the area. He was really starting to regret this assignment. Three months of shadowing the two since Dr. Foster fully left SHIELD and this was the first time he had met her. In those three months he had little but collect Darcy's Lewis shopping, get take-out, or bring her coffee. Deputy Director Hill owed him big time.

"Years of SHIELD training and I'm still fetching and carrying. This better be something amazing or I'm calling for a transfer." Agent Jimmy Olsen grimaced silently whilst venting in a quiet whisper whilst he grabbed the heavy Phase Meter device and rushed off after the two women.

'THIS IS AMAZING!' The little happy science voice in Jane's head was screaming in joy and doing somersaults as she witnessed the impossible. An entire plethora of unique gravitational and spatial phenomena ranged from actual shifts in local gravity to what appeared to be semi-stable Einstein-Rosen bridges. The readings were so close to the ones she had picked up in New Mexico, yet also very different, if she could get some more accurate readings, it could really move her from theoretical work to practical attempts.

'I just need to find the central point of the phenome-…. And where the hell am I?" Jane's inner musing was abruptly halted by her suddenly realising that she was no longer in the old warehouse.

As she turned her head she was greeted by darkness and cold chilling wind that froze her to the bone. She took a shivering step back hoping the action would return her to her own world, but she was only greeted by a sickening crunch. Turning her head downwards she was immediately greeted by a clearly not human skeleton in rusted black armour causing her to jump backwards and let out a small shout of surprise.

Jane immediately clasped her hand over her mouth, Darcy had made her watch enough good, awful horror films to know that shouting out in dark otherworldly caves was a good way to attract alien monsters. Her unexpected shriek did have one benefit as it started echoing off the walls giving her an idea at least of the size of the place she was in. However, that didn't help her much as the area she was in was huge and as she stood still her echoing call continued to reflect back for some time.

It was as her echo died out that the red light suddenly illuminated that area she was standing in, with a slow steady rhythmic pulse. Jane turned her head and saw the source of the throbbing glow. It was a huge, massive pillar that lurched upwards beyond her view with what seemed like a large crack in its base, which stood at about her height and ran all the way around.

She did not know why, but Jane moved forward towards the dark pillar and the red light which seemed to beat faster as she approached. When she reached the pillar, she craned her neck to peer into the crevice from which the light was emanating. What greeted her was a marvel of beauty, it was a swarming vortex of red and black crystals, forming a perfect geometrical spiral which Jane couldn't help but be entranced by.

Her arm moved without her realising as her eyes stayed fixed on the gleaming shards floating before her, oblivious to the danger she was inching towards. It was only when her own hand appeared in her field of vision that Jane's trance broke and a confused look on her face.

"What the he-" Jane's exclamation of confusion was never finished as the crystals surged forward striking her hand, the strange sensation of both power and coldness was the last thing she felt.

(London Warehouse - United Kingdom – Earth – November 12th, 2013 – Late Evening)

"I DON'T KNOW WHERE SHE IS, THAT IS WHY I CALLED YOU!" Darcy's fury was something to behold as she confronted the local police without care.

"Ma'am, you need to calm down." The London constable said with slight fear in his voice as he backed away slightly from the terrifying woman.

However, Agent Olsen, whilst admiring the young beautiful firebrand woman in front of him, was also dreading making a report. Months of zero contact with Dr. Foster, then suddenly he had a chance to observe the woman in the field only to lose her straight away. Six hours and there was zero sign of her, even the SHIELD Handbook's search procedures couldn't turn up anything in a four-block radius, no sign of a struggle or an abduction. This could only mean that the world-renowned physicist had stumbled through one of these weird portals and was stuck god-knows-where, with him left behind holding the bucket for the catastrophe.

'I am so fired' Jimmy lamented as he stayed by the car which he could now not get into due to him having stupidly thrown the car keys into one of the portals thinking it was coming back. "I just had to go all-in on the dumb college kid act, didn't I?"

"JANE!" Darcy's call of relief caused him to snap his head up as he watched the young woman push past several police officers running to the returned scientist. "Where the hell were you?!"

"Oh, thank god" Jimmy whispered to himself, unbelievably relieved that Dr. Foster was back. "So, not fired, definitely gettingstuck on Lighthouse duty. Guess there's worse things than sitting on a rock guarding a doomsday bunker nobody'll ever use."He mused to himself as he stood up towards the doctor.

"Tell me you didn't call the police?" Jane's anger and question caught both Olsen and Darcy off guard, a confused expression on the latter's face as she looked at Jane.

"What was I supposed to do?" Darcy asked all her anger from moments ago gone as she just looked at Jane worried, clearly looking at her head for some sign of trauma.

"NOT call the police?" Jane exclaimed, mad that her undisrupted access to a once-in-a-lifetime discovery was now crawling with cops.

"I was freaking out." Darcy defended her actions, becoming increasingly worried about Jane's lack of understanding of what was happening.

"You call the cops, THEY call the feds," Jane explained, exasperated and more than a little disappointed that Darcy had ruined her chance to study the phenomenon. "NEXT thing you know we have SHIELD crawling all over the place. 'Area 51-ing' the place."

"Jane…" Darcy tried to interrupt her friend but to no avail, as she just powered on.

"WE had a stable gravitation anomaly. WE had unimpeded access. OUR ONLY COMPETITION WAS TEN-YEAR-OLDS!" Jane shouted at her friend feeling incredibly angry for a reason she couldn't quite explain.

"JANE!" Darcy finally snapped her own frustration outweighing her concern for Jane, causing her friend to become quiet. "You were gone for nearly six hours."

"What?" Jane asked in disbelief, just staring at Darcy, she suddenly felt herself become very warm.

She was about to speak again but a rumbling of thunder prevented her as she and Darcy looked around and saw a torrent of rain falling around them, water pouring everywhere except the exact position they were standing.

"That's weird." Darcy said matter-of-factly worried that something else was about to go wrong.

Jane herself looked around until her eyes became wide seeing a pair of armoured figures in the distance. Only one of them was her sole focus of attention as she headed over to the blonde hammer-wielding man whose eyes were solely fixed on her. She suddenly shoved the device she was still holding into Darcy's hands and then half stumbled and half walked over.

As she moved, the perfect circle of clear sky moved with her causing Darcy to be drenched by the cold British deluge. Darcy yelled something but she couldn't hear it as she was solely focused on the returned Thor before her. Her mind was racing with everything she wanted to say to him, all the feelings that were burning inside of her.

"Jane," Thor said with relief and joy as he saw that the woman he loved was unharmed. He moved in to lean down to embrace her with the anticipation and the joy of their union in the air.

SLAP!

Thor's face did not move as Jane's blow struck his cheek with her full strength. Though it caused him no damage it did cause his eyes to go wide and him to look at Jane in shock. The situation was very much not helped by the chuckle he heard his brother struggling to hold back.

"Sorry." Jane apologised as just looked at Thor in surprise. "I just needed to make sure you were real. It's been a strange day."

Thor merely nodded a look of complete understanding on his face, as a smile returned to his face. "I am real. Jane what…."

SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!

Jane's strikes rained down on the god of thunder causing everyone to freeze except for Kal who was quietly struggling not to laugh at his brother's predicament. Thor merely stood there unmoving, not sure what to do as the love of his life 'attacked' him.

"Where the hell were you?!" Jane exclaimed in a tone only a girlfriend could manage.

"Heimdall couldn't see you," Thor explained with worry in his voice as he reached out and caressed her shoulder.

"I was right here where you left me," Jane responded and swatted away Thor's very pleasurable touch not wanting to be distracted as she was very much still mad at him.

"I don't think you were," Kal said quietly, causing Jane and Thor to look at him.

Kal's head was turned to one side as she scanned the area, and what he saw troubled him deeply. The area was rife with spatial anomalies and rifts through the very fabric of reality, although invisible to most Kal was just able to make them out but even to his Kryptonian sight, they were difficult to spot. They winked in and out of existence and drifted through space as if through a churning river, all of which was not normal even for the convergence, the odd spatial tear or flux in gravity maybe, but nothing to this extent.

As he scanned the area, he then lifted his head towards the skies as his vision pierced through clouds and atmosphere to gaze at the heavens themselves. Most merely saw stars and their light when they gazed up, but Kal saw it all, every neutrino, every speck of dust that soared through the cosmos, to him the Bifrost truly was a bridge of brilliant colours. It was there that he saw the issue, the upcoming convergence was one of greater magnitude than they believed, the kind of convergence that only occurred every 50,000 thousand years, the Prime Convergence.

"Brother?" Thor's voice caused Kal to return his focus to the mortal realm he stood with a grimace on his face.

"The convergence has caused rifts in the area; it might be why Heimdall's sight was unable to see her," Kal explained the grimace on his face, as he withdrew Gram from his scabbard before giving his brother a more gentle reassuring look. "See to the Lady Jane, I will correct the issue."

"Wait, what is he doing?" Jane asked confused as Kal moved forward into the pouring rain which halted as he raised a hand. "And what is the convergence? And why didn't you come back."

Thor halted his response as a smile crossed his face as he saw Jane's reaction to his brother's work. Although Loki was by far the more skilled at magic Kal was not a novice and although he could not accomplish the feats Loki could, he still knew enough to correct the issues around them and wow Jane. Kal slammed Gram's point into the earth and closed his eyes as he spoke in a tongue that no one but Thor could understand as the Allspeak that was the ancient tongue of Asgard. He glowed brightly and everyone watched in wonder as the air became bright revealing the tears that before only Kal could see.

Kal then stood up, Gram still embedded in the earth glowing as brightly as the sun which was suddenly high in the sky turning the cold November day into what one would see in July. Kal's hand weaved through the air as he spoke, and runes appeared to seal the rifts and prevent any further danger to the Midgardians. In all, the amazing feat only lasted a few moments before the god lowered his hand, causing the runes, the bright riffs, the hot day and his own glow to disappear.

"Wow okay, that was cool." Jane whispered in amazement as Kal turned back to them a smile on his face as he flicked his wrist causing Gram to return to him. Jane's amazement only lasted a few moments as it did not override her anger with Thor for having left her behind. "BUT that doesn't get you off the hook, where were you? You said you were coming back, and I saw you in New York, your brother's been here all this time."

"I know, I know, but the Bifrost was destroyed, Jane. Kal was stranded here, and he chose to stay to protect you all. Other worlds were not so fortunate, the nine realms erupted into chaos. Wars were raging, marauders were pillaging." Thor explained a desperation in his voice wanting Jane to understand why he had delayed his return. "I had to put an end to the slaughter."

"As excuses go, it's not terrible." Jane responded coolly and her anger at Thor vanished as the god of Thunder moved closer to her, her cheeks becoming red as she felt heat rising in her.

"Jane, I fought to protect you fro-" Thor leaned in to bring up one of his mighty hands to gently caress his love's face but only to be cut off by Darcy.

"Um yeah sorry to interrupt all of this." Darcy butted in suddenly appearing next to her best friend.

"WHAT?!" Jane hissed at Darcy eyes wide as she glared at her friend for interrupting the moment she had waited over a year for.

"Um, we're getting arrested, and I think Barney Fife over there is calling the Army after Kal's freaky lightshow." Darcy gestured over to the police who were already placing handcuffs on her intern whilst another officer talked frantically into his radio and several of the braver ones advanced towards them.

"Do you wish for me to deal with this?" Kal asked as he floated back over to the small group his eyes fixed on the approaching officers.

"No, no, no." Jane quickly stated not really sure how that would end but knew that getting Kal or Thor to deal with the situation would likely not end well. "I'll deal with it."

As Jane moved off Kal landed fully next to his sibling with a smile on his face as he watched his smitten brother watch Jane. Thor's eyes never left Jane for a moment, Kal's vision then turned to Darcy next to them giving her a polite smile as she looked longingly at Kal.

"She is something isn't she?" Thor stated with clear infatuation as he stared at her, not really expecting a response.

Kal merely shook his head at his brother's infatuation and turned his gaze to Jane, who was arguing with one of the police officers gesturing to Darcy's intern and clearly not making a positive impression. The officer said something that Jane disliked as she threw up her hands in disbelief and replied with something that Kal did not wish to repeat. The man made a move to grab Jane's arm and he could practically hear Thor's hand tensing on Mjolnir.

However, neither god needed to act because as soon as the officer made to touch Jane's arm an explosion of red energy erupted into the air. Kal moved swiftly as did Thor protecting Darcy from the blast that flung the mortals away like they were toys in the face of a hurricane. Despite the terror of the situation Darcy couldn't help her cheeks going red as two hunky aliens pressed up against her.

Thor was the first to move, being a blur even to Kal's eyes as he rushed over to Jane who was now lying on the asphalt. Wisps of red energy faintly trailing off of her as Thor immediately lifted her off of the ground, not caring about the danger he might face. He visibly shook and sighed with relief when Jane's eyes opened up.

"Jane, thank the Allfathers, are you alright?" Thor asked as he brushed a piece of stray hair away from her face.

"What happened?" She asked groggily as her vision of the world returned blurrily.

"ON THE GROUND, NOW!" Thor's head snapped to a constable who was approaching them clearly terrified with his baton ready in one hand.

Thor had to commend the mortal on his bravery but still gripped Mjolnir tightly, not liking the man's tone.

"The lady is unwell." Thor said, trying to calm the situation.

"She's dangerous!" The man replied shakily slightly as he neared them but stopped when he saw Thor's eyes.

"So are we." Thor said firmly staring down the officer who halted where he was, as Kal became visible again floating just above and behind his brother, eyes glowing red.

"Re-re-requesting armed response officers to the scene!" The police officer stuttered out as he started to back off looking terrified between Kal and Thor. "Just send everybody, please!"

"Hold on to me." Thor whispered to Jane causing her to look confused at him but tighten her grip on him whilst he held her.

"What are you doing?" she asked. The sky above them started to swirl and the ground started burning with Norse runes.

Thor did not reply as the Bifrost answered for him, engulfing Jane, himself and Kal in its brilliant colours. Jane's eyes widened in wonder while the universe sped past her as she experienced the power of the Bifrost. Her vision turned to Thor who looked down at her with affection and somehow became even more handsome in the lights of the cosmos. The amazement suddenly ended and Jane found herself no longer on Earth, she was now in a high-domed spire looking up from Thor's arms at the tallest man she had ever seen.

"We have to do that again." Jane let out a small whisper to Thor, who just grinned at her joy.

"Welcome to Asgard, Lady Foster" Heimdall greeted Jane with a bow of his head causing the physicist to suddenly become slightly shy.

"Oh, hi?" Jane responded feeling very awkward as Thor was still carrying her in his arms and made no move to put her down.

"Brother, quickly, we must get to the healers." Kal's voice sounded out next to them reminding Jane he was there and Thor that they needed to get moving.

(Meanwhile back on Earth)

"Holy SHIT!" Darcy's voice exclaimed as the brilliant rainbow light disappeared into the heavens as everyone stood there shocked at what had just happened.

Agent Olsen merely slumped against the police car he was standing next to with handcuffs on his wrists. One of the police officers turned to look at the young man who just let out a deep sigh and shook his head despondently.

"Okay, I am SO fired," Jimmy stated casually to the officer who just stood there dumbfounded.

(Asgard – Hall of Healing - Royal Palace of Valaskjalf - November 12th, 2013)

"What's that?" Jane asked as she lay on the table of the Soul Forge looking up at golden images that were being projected above her, reaching her hand out in curiosity.

Whilst the comment earned a smile from Thor, Carol and Kal who were loving that even in these less-than-ideal circumstances Jane was still awed by even a simple device like the Soul Forge. However, her movement caused a grimace to appear on Grand Healer Eir's face who gently but firmly moved Jane's hand back down.

"Be still," Eir commanded, irritated that this mortal was disturbing her work and that she had also been ordered to get up in the middle of the night to attend to this matter.

"She's got a great bedside manner" Carol whispered over to Kal, annoyed at Eir's tone and the look she gave Jane.

Kal made a move to respond and was about to comment that Eir was usually nicer but she had had little sleep the past year dealing with the wounded from the war and it had caused her to become irritable with everyone. However, Thor's concerned voice drew his attention as his brother stood next to one of the healers, his vision never leaving his love.

"This is not of Midgard. What is it?" Thor asked with fear seeping into the edges of his quiet voice as he whispered to the healer not wanting to alarm Jane.

"We do not know." The healer responded quietly as she looked at the readings, she bore a regretful look on her face as she turned to look at her prince. "But she will not survive the amount of energy surging within her."

The healer gave her prince a respectful bow of her head before she moved back to aid the others in trying to treat Jane. Thor felt a heavy weight pressing down inside his chest, which was slightly relieved by Jane's smile at him and Kal placing a hand on his shoulder. As Thor turned to look at his younger brother, Kal gave him a nod and a look that conveyed that he would do everything he could to help Jane.

"That's a quantum field generator, isn't it?" Jane asked in awe, stretching out her hand again watching as the golden outline moved with her. The device must have worked like an MRI, reading and translating an echo of the atomic forces making up her body. Her interest was piqued at what else it could do.

"It's a Soul Forge," Eir replied with a deep sigh and lightly slapped Jane's outstretched hand back down. The Grand Healer rolled her eyes at the mortal who couldn't even possibly begin to understand how the Asgardian device wo-

"Well…... does a Soul Forge transfer molecular energy from one place to another?" Jane asked with a look which conveyed both curiosity and slight pride.

"...Yes." Eir for the first time actually looked at the mortal she was treating with an impressed look on her face.

"Quantum field generator," Jane whispered smugly to Thor and Kal, a grin on her face at her small victory.

Thor gave a small chuckle at Jane's victory a bright smile on his face as his heart soared as Jane appeared to be doing better. Kal meanwhile just gave the Chief Healer a look that caused the woman to look sheepish and continue with her work. Carol gave a smile which faltered when she turned her head at the approaching sound of heavily armoured men.

"My words are mere noises to you both that you ignore them completely." Odin's voice sounded out as he stormed into the healing room, casting a glare at both his sons, whilst ignoring everyone else.

"She is ill." Thor let out a sigh as he turned to face his father and as he did so gave Kal a look that his brother returned, with his back to their father.

"She is mortal." Odin declared, sweeping his hand down, turning off the Soul Forge, casting his vision to Carol briefly a grimace on his face. "Illness and decay are their defining traits."

"I brought her here because we can help her," Thor explained his actions as Odin moved past him giving a wave of his hand to dismiss the healers except for Eir who remained.

"Neither she nor any mortal belongs on Asgard," Odin said firmly, his comment causing Carol to look at Kal whose knuckles simply cracked at the comment. "Any more than goats belong at a banquet table."

"Did he just…" Jane sat up and gestured to Odin with one hand whilst looking at Thor in disbelief before turning to give the old man who had arrived a piece of her mind. "Who do you think you are?"

"I am Odin, King of Asgard, Protector of the Nine Realms. God of War and Wisdom" Odin announced looking Jane in the eyes and searching for the quality of her heart.

Jane's eyes widened, but her anger did not leave her, though she was slightly embarrassed at meeting Thor's father like this.

"Oh…... Well, I'm-" Jane tried to reply only for the king to cut her off.

"I know very well who you are, Jane Foster," Odin commented, giving a quick glance at Thor before he moved away from her towards his guards.

"You told your dad about me?" Jane asked Thor with a teasing smile as she felt blood rush to her cheeks.

"Told? He never shuts up about you," Kal lightly ribbed, causing Jane's sweet smile to deepen as did the redness of her cheeks whilst Thor just gave his brother a half-hearted glare.

"Something is within her, father," Thor stated, avoiding Kal's teasing and Jane's question moving over to where Odin stood. "Something I nor Kal have never seen before."

"Her world has its healers. It is not for us to interfere." Odin's solemn statement earned a scoff from Kal who was now standing up with his arms crossed. A disparaging look was the response before he pressed on with Thor. "Let her be seen by one of their 'Doctors.'Allow them to deal with it. In fact, perhaps the 'Lady' Danvers can be your escort to ensure your safe return?"

Odin's request caused the room to become chilly as Carol just blinked several times not sure she had heard correctly. Whilst Kal's knuckles had gone white, and a grimace played across his face as he tried to keep a snarl from forming as he glared down at his father. Jane just looked over to Thor, her eyes wide as she clearly felt uncomfortable being the cause of the tension in the room.

After a few tense moments, it was clear that the superpowered mortal was not going to take the king up on his offer, causing his solemn features to crack slightly as his eye narrowed at her. He then turned his vision to Kal with the two staring at each other before Odin merely scoffed and turned to the elite members of the Einherjar.

"Guards! Take her back to Midgard." Odin ordered as he moved to leave the room so as to ensure he would not be debated.

Thor had a forlorn look on his face at his father's orders, his head swivelling between moving to protect Jane or going after his father to stop the need to protect her. Kal's grimace finally turned into a snarl as he scoffed at Odin's actions moving to try to intercept the guards moving towards her. However, two guards had positioned themselves next to the Soul Forge and so were able to reach Jane before either Kal or Thor could react.

"No, I would not ….." Thor tried to prevent the guards from touching Jane but moved too late.

The moment the guard moved to even touch Jane the room exploded into a swirling mass of red and blackness. The walls cracked and the two guards only survived because Kal and Carol tackled them away from the worst of the blast. The room fell silent as Odin ran back into the room watching the cosmic energy dissipate into the air.

"…..touch her." Thor finished his sentence as he lowered his hand that had shielded his face and moved over to Jane who was laying on the cracked table, her eyes fluttering. "Jane, are you alright?"

"Yeah" Her voice was weak and low as she tried to stay awake but felt exhausted.

Odin suddenly was at Jane's side, his hands wavering in the air causing runes to appear over the two of them. His great eye moved over her prone form, glowing as his vision attempted to pierce the mystery before him. He then moved his hand gently, caressing Jane's arm and causing a rush of swirling red energy to appear. The sight caused great concern.

"It's impossible." Odin whispered as his hand froze in place.

"The infection…...it's defending her?" Chief Healer Eir asked with a look of both medical concern and scientific curiosity on her face.

"No." Kal's voice caused everyone to look at him as he moved over to the table whilst Carol aided the two guards they saved. "…...whatever this is, it's defending itself."

Odin stood up his vision staring off into the distance with a calculating look on his face. It was a few moments before his view swept back over to Jane with determination. The look made her feel more at ease for the moment and looked up to Thor who just gave her a loving smile.

"Come with me." Odin moved from the room causing Thor to gently lift Jane to her feet and follow his father.

As they walked Thor along with Kal couldn't help but smile at the respective look of wonder both Jane and Carol were giving the beauty which was Asgard. Jane's wonderment was in seeing an alien world for the first time from a mortal perspective, only knowing the tiniest bit of Asgard's majesty from the myths of her world and seeing wonders not yet dreamed of by her people. Carol was in awe of finally seeing the Realm Eternal in person, in truth the stories from both Kal and others about Asgard did the place little justice.

As they passed through the Hall of Science Jane looked up in wonder at a massive model of a tree that rose to the highest rungs of the ceiling. The tree clearly showed Yggdrasil, or at least a representation as nestled within its branches Jane saw stars and worlds she couldn't even name. Her eyes immediately moved to the one she recognised and saw a depiction of Earth gently cradled in the very centre of the great tree.

"There are relics that predate the universe itself. What lies within her appears to be one of them." Odin explained as he walked through the Hall of science setting a fast yet responsible pace. "The Nine Realms are not eternal. They had a dawn, and they will have a dusk."

"Ragnarök" Jane whispered to herself remembering Erik telling her of the myths of his homeland and recalling the one about the end of days.

However, she suddenly noticed that the Hall had gone silent and everyone apart from Carol was looking at her. Jane looked at everyone who appeared to be muted and just looking at her, she looked at Carol who was also looking at the room. The cosmic Avenger just shrugged her shoulders as confused as Jane.

"We don't talk about that…subject here." Thor quietly explained to Jane trying to give her a reassuring smile whilst he felt a chill down his spine at mentioning the twilight of his people that all feared.

Odin merely pressed on through the cold and eerie silence of the Hall, his actions causing everyone else to quickly return to their duties at a faster pace than before. Eventually reached Odin's personal study whose great oak carved doors opened up as he approached. As Kal passed through the doors, he took a moment to smile at the bust of Mímir that his father had placed to watch over his library in honour of the old advisor who had been lost like Haldor to Lorelai's machinations.

"Before the dawn, the dark forces, the Dark elves, reigned nearly absolute," Odin explained as he moved his hand over a plinth in the centre of the room causing an ancient tome to appear.

The tome opened revealing images of Dark Elves and Ginnungagap, the great abyss that Asgardians believed reigned supreme over existence before the universe began. However, Odin's comment caused Kal's brow to farrow as he recalled his other father telling him that Krypton had reigned supreme at the beginning of existence.

"Borne of the eternal night, the Dark Elves come to steal away the light." Thor recited from memory recalling the fear that line had stirred in him as a child. "I know these stories. Mother told them to us as children."

"Yes, she did. The leader of the Dark Elves, one called Malekith, made a weapon out of that Darkness, and it was called the Aether." Odin explained with a wave of his hand over the tome causing it to project the story he was telling for all to see. "Whilst the other relics often appear as Stones, the Aether is fluid and ever changing. It affects the nature of reality, and can readily change matter into Dark Matter. It seeks out host bodies, drawing strength from their life force. Malekith sought to use the power of the Aether to return the universe to one of darkness."

Before Odin could continue Kal pressed his right gauntlet and smiled when the projection of Jor-El appeared. Everyone turned to look in surprise at the image formed from flowing metallic dust of a man that was Kal's spitting image. Odin's face turned slightly irritated at the appearance of the hologram however Thor noticed a slight pain in his father's eyes as Kal spoke to the deceased spectre of his father.

"Greetings my son, I am glad to see the ranged communication is functioning as expected."Jor-El gave a smile, pleased he was now able to communicate with his son when Kal-El was not in the fortress. "Now, how can I assist you?"

"What can you tell me of a weapon called the Aether and the Dark Elves?" Kal asked, having a feeling that there was something more to the subject than Odin knew or was willing to tell.

"Hmmm, there doesn't appear to be any species or device that matches either of those names within Krypton's archives or my own knowledge. I am sorry, my son." Jor-El responded after having a thoughtful expression on his face for a few moments as he accessed his knowledge.

"Well, that was an interesting distraction, but as I am able to shed some light on these matters so if I might continue?" Odin's voice had a hint of smugness that Kal had never heard before as one father looked at the other with a smile on his face.

"Wait" Jane's voice called out causing Odin to pause once more, the look he gave Jane made her a little sheepish. "You might know them as something different, maybe? Um, that book there has information on them if you are able to read it."

Jor-El gave Jane a polite smile and turned to look in the direction she was pointing. Jor-El raised one hand and placed his palm flat out towards the book, becoming unmoving for a few moments. To Jane and Carol's eyes the image appeared to be buffering for want of a better word. After a few moments, Odin just scoffed and waved a dismissive hand.

"Come now, this projection is clearly of no he-" Odin began just as Jor-El lowered his hand and returned to life.

"Ah, Dr Jane Foster is correct, using the information from this book I have located the relevant information." Jor-El's explanation caused everyone to move closer to him and a little away from Odin causing the King of Asgard's face to fall at the deeper meaning. "These 'Dark Elves' were known to Krypton as the Älfeneel, or more commonly the Void Dwellers. A very aggressive race originating from a sub-space realm of Dark Matter that bled into our reality during Krypton's first age, we dealt with them early within our history."

"Dealt with, how?" Carol asked, having been around enough and a soldier long enough to know the ways a war could end, and that dealt with was never code for the nice ones.

"Well, when diplomacy failed as these Dark Elves, as you know them, attempted to annihilate anything not made from Dark Matter, we were forced to strike first," Jor-El explained with a simulated wince as he accessed the information. "My ancestor Hatu-El utilised the Reality Singularity to remove the Dark Elves' home dimension from existence, wiping out about 99.87% of their population on the opening day of the war. After which we rounded up the survivors and placed them on a penal world of Darkness orbiting a ravenous black hole to keep them from harming anyone else."

The room became quiet for a few moments as everyone just processed the information that Jor-El had just relayed to everyone. However, it was Jane that was the first to speak as she was less experienced with grand politics and the history of the cosmos so wasn't used to discussing the destruction of whole civilisations.

"Um, sorry, I might have misheard but it sounded like you said your people destroyed an entire dimension and basically committed genocide?" Jane asked, hoping that she was misunderstanding the current situation and suddenly felt slightly wary of Kal.

"No, you have heard correctly. However, the action was only taken after great deliberation and after calculations predicted that any other course of action would likely result in a protracted war." Jor-El explained although it was clear by the look on his face that he himself was not happy with his people's actions. "As for this 'Aether', it is clearly a corruption of the Singularity that devastated and trapped them, but transformed to try and undo Krypton's actions, however I have no record of the weapon itself"

"How is that possible? You told me that our people controlled the Stones, how can we not know of the Aether?" Kal asked, finding it both alarming and curious that Krypton's records had no knowledge of the Dark Elves' most powerful weapon.

"According to my records, when our civil war ended and the singularities were hidden, the Reality Singularity was still a stone. I theorise that the Dark Elves discovered it after our people's retreat and isolation to Krypton, then created the Aether meaning we would have no knowledge of it." Jor-El explained his theory trying to reconcile what he knew of the Reality Stone with what was in Asgard's records. "It is likely that Dark Elves created the myth that they always possessed the Stone and less…ancient cultures proceeded to adopt their tales."

Odin's eyes narrowed at Jor-El's carefully selected words and whilst the phantom image of Kal's father had tried to be delicate the words were taken as an insult. The mood was clear to everyone in the room as Thor and Kal exchanged a wary look.

"Do you know how to remove the Stone from Jane?" Thor asked quickly before Odin could defend his insulted pride.

"I do not, the Stone's nature has changed but I will attempt to figure it out." Jor-El promised as he nodded to Kal who deactivated the projection not wanting to chance Odin becoming insulted again at Jor-El's words.

"What of Asgard's knowledge? Do we know how to remove the Aether?" Thor turned to his father hoping Odin's vast knowledge could aid them.

"We do not, but we have great knowledge of the Aether. I am sure we can discover how to remove it," Odin stated confidently, standing erect with a determined look on his face as he was certain he would beat Jor-El's ghost in this contest.

"What about the Dark Elves themselves?" Jane asked, looking slightly nervous as actual gods turned to face her, a confused look on Thor and Odin faces, whilst Kal's eyebrows were raised. "Well, if they created the Aether surely, they would know how to remove it. Isn't there one of them we could ask or convince to help them?"

"Jane…that isn't possible," Thor said delicately glancing at his father feeling nervous given how Jane had reacted to Krypton almost committing a complete genocide.

"Why?" Jane asked, confused although she was no expert she had studied the myths and knew that the Dark Elves lived in a realm of their own called Svartalfheim.

"Because the Dark Elves are no more," Odin said bluntly, not caring about being delicate like Thor was. "When the Dark Elves threatened the universe it was Asgard that drove them back to their foul world. My father, King Bor, waged a mighty war against the Elves which saw millions slaughtered but in the end we took the Aether and eliminated their threat forever."

"…how?" Jane asked knowing what the answer would be but needing to hear it.

"My father killed them all," Odin stated bluntly but also with a hint of vicious pride that troubled Thor and Kal.

"Are you certain?" Thor asked as he had recently learned that the ancient peoples of the cosmos did not appear to die easily, as Zod had proven to devastating effect. "We believed the Aether destroyed yet here it is. Could the Dark Elves not have endured?"

"Yes, I am certain. Unlike other people, we finish what we started." Odin said with pride as closed the book. "We will aid you, Jane Foster, for the time being, you shall remain on Asgard within your own rooms until we can remove the Aether."

As Odin moved to leave to arrange a room for Jane he passed Carol which caused a grimace on his face and a sigh to escape his lips. He gave Kal a quick look and then stopped at the exit of his great study, turned slightly to speak once more.

"I will also arrange rooms for the Lady Carol," Odin said with obvious reluctance as he then departed the room, leaving its occupants in silence until Carol spoke.

"Wow Kal, you didn't tell me your dad was such a charmer" Carol sarcastically declared as she gave Kal a look which caused him to grimace.

'Oh, Norns give me strength.' Kal thought to himself