Mike awoke suddenly from his stilted sleep. It was the night before the ceremony where Frigg would finally choose her Odin. Coincidentally enough, the ceremony was scheduled to happen right before Martin had predicted that Ragnarok would break loose. Both occasions proved to be life-changing, and the latter meant that there was a risk that not everyone would make it out alive.

Of many things, Mike was not certain, but it was hard not to figure out that there was a person stumbling downstairs in his bar. Arming himself with a golf club that Olaf had left behind, he slowly crept downstairs to investigate.

The floor and the stairs seemed to creak more than usual; or perhaps it was because Mike was acutely aware of his senses and his mortality on this final night before things changed for good. Or maybe it was because he was usually so sure of himself that he never crept slowly; he would always walk confidently down the stairs with purpose. He was Ullr, for fuck's sake, and maybe even Odin! Or, he used to be. Lately, any desire to be the 'all-father' had been sapped from him.

Mike was no longer sure of his purpose. It wasn't fear of the possible intruder that made him hesitant; it was the desire to make time go slower to the point where it would stop, and everything with it. Mike didn't need to worry about the former; the intruder was only his younger brother, Ty.

"Jesus, Ty, you scared me!" At his words, the floor started to shake as it had been doing increasingly over the past few days. Mike was excellent at guessing the magnitude of the earthquakes; as he braced himself against the wall he became sure that the earthquake was a 5.7 on the Richter scale. Uncomfortable and scary, but on the whole not life-threatening. Ty braced himself against the bar, covering his head in case of falling debris.

"Not Jesus, just Hodr," Ty managed a smile, lifting his arm from his head once the shaking had stopped.

"You should be with Dawn." Mike walked down to the bar and left his golf club against the wall before pouring himself a drink. Ty let out a soft sigh and stared down at the drink Mike had handed him.

"Dawn went home to her mum's tonight. She'll drive back tomorrow. It was a pretty emotional day for us all – Anders stopped by this afternoon and entrusted the company to her in the chance that Anders died tomorrow." Ty's voice grew quieter and hoarser.

"We'll be fine, Dawn. You just have to have faith." Dawn had come home from work and flung her arms around Ty; there had been three large earthquakes that were each larger than the last. Ty was surprised that she was home this early – the roads were clogged with panicked people heading home, away from the city that wasn't designed to stand up against earthquakes.

Ty's words were comforting, but the way he gripped her tightly contradicted his words. He didn't want anything else but to just stay there, holding her close until the world ended. With them together. The ground shuddered with a tell-tale tremor, and Ty pulled Dawn into a doorway before the house started properly rattling. They could hear glasses smashing in the kitchen and utensils clanging to the floor. Ty shut his eyes and waited for the quake to stop.

It finally subsided, but Dawn and Ty were both still trembling. The house and the house's surroundings were eerily quiet; no sirens, screams or cars to be heard. The distinct lack of humming also suggested that that last quake had cut power. They stood in the doorway for about five minutes, in case of an aftershock (although what was causing the earthquakes meant that they tended not to follow usual tectonic patterns).

"Will you marry me?" Ty whispered into Dawn's ear. Dawn pulled her head back from Ty's shoulder, the tears down her cheeks evident. Despite this, she smiled.

"No," she replied. "You can ask me again tomorrow night when you're sure you actually want to and not because the world is ending." Ty nodded and smiled back.

"Deal. I left the ring at work, anyway." Dawn laughed and she kissed him softly.

"You have a ring?" she asked softly. Ty smiled knowingly.

"I've said too much already." He kissed the top of her head, and they went out into the kitchen to assess the damage and start cleaning up. The power was definitely out, but thankfully Ty would be able to keep the food in the fridge cold if the power wasn't restored soon.

There was broken glass everywhere from glasses as well as the windows, which had finally cracked from the pressure of the past few days. But thanks to Ty's foresight and a touch of DIY skills, the oven and fridge hadn't fallen over – they had stayed firmly braced to the wall. For about 15 minutes, they worked in silence to clean up and prepare for the inevitable next jolt.

A banging on the door startled Ty and Dawn, who had only just started to settle slightly from the most recent earthquake ("6.9" Mike had texted Ty immediately after it had happened).

"I'll get it," Dawn offered, brushing dust off her hands and heading out into the hallway.

"Anders!" Ty heard her say in a surprised tone. "Were you

driving in that?!"

"The harbour bridge collapsed," Anders responded, and Dawn let out a gasp.

"Oh my god – was anyone hurt?" The pair of them walked out into the kitchen. Anders shook his head.

"I don't know," he responded. "But that's pretty fucking major."

"What are you doing here?" Ty asked. Anders wasn't the type to take unnecessary risks, and it took even more for him to drive all the way out to the suburbs where Ty and Dawn lived when he himself lived in the city.

"The city's falling to pieces, Tyrone, and there's a few things I need to sort out, alright?" The way in which Anders snapped at his brother revealed how stressed he was feeling. It both comforted Ty and frightened him to see Anders like this; it was nice to know that Ty and Dawn weren't alone with their fear, but to see Anders upset when it normally took a lot to rattle him was disheartening.

"…would you like to come and sit down, then?" Dawn asked tentatively, gesturing to the living room. "Ty, would you make some coffee?" Ty nodded, and Anders and Dawn went to sit and talk.

Ty quietly swore when he realised that the water wasn't working, but he had been prepared and he pulled a bottle of water out from the cupboard to put in a saucepan. Their stovetop was gas (much to Dawn's initial chagrin) but it had proved useful lately.

He brought out the coffee into the living room, where Dawn was sitting on the couch and Anders in the armchair across from her. Anders hadn't said a word since he had sat down; he had just carefully held the manila folder in his hands close to his chest, his chin resting atop of it. Ty sat down next to Dawn and looked at his brother expectantly. Anders finally started to speak.

"Dawn, this is for you." He handed her the manila folder. Dawn took it from him and opened it, staring at the contents.

"What's this?"But she knew the answer already.

"It's all the ownership documents for JPR. I transferred them into your name today." Dawn stood up in shock.

"No." Anders looked up at her sadly.

"Dawn, if nothing happens tomorrow, then fine, you can give them back and I'll transfer them over. But, let's be honest, things aren't looking up, and I need to know that you'll be okay when we're gone. You are going to do great things, Dawn, and giving you the proper reign of the business is a way that I can relax a little about tomorrow."

"I don't want this." Dawn's voice was shaky. Ty had fixed a glare on Anders – how dare he make her upset like this?!

"What – you don't want the business?" Anders was surprised. Dawn shook her head, fighting back tears.

"No! I don't want ANY of this – the earthquakes, the disappearances, the uncertainty – what am I supposed to DO, knowing that my boyfriend and my boss are potentially walking off never to be seen again?!" Ty reached out and grabbed her hand protectively. He wanted his brother to get the fuck out of his house.

"Dawn, sweetheart, you've gotta understand- "
"Don't you dare," Ty growled, cutting Anders off. Dawn pulled her hand out of Ty's grasp and left the room before her tears could get the better of her. Anders looked over to his brother.

"What, so you're just going to pretend that everything's going to be okay tomorrow?!"

"You don't know ANYTHING about what's going to happen!" Ty shouted. The room dropped a few degrees in temperature, but for once Anders didn't make a joke about it.

"Neither do you! Forgive me for making a couple of contingency plans and preparing for the worst-case scenario!"

"But you're certain that you're going to die," Ty accused in a dangerously quiet voice. Anders didn't break eye contact from Ty, and he felt sick to his stomach. He wanted in that moment for his older brother to tell him to cheer the fuck up, that of course he wasn't going to die, that Ty was just being overly dramatic as per usual.

"Yes." Was Anders' response instead. Ty swallowed and stared at the wall to the left of Anders. He couldn't look his brother in the eye.

"Ty, look, bro. This ceremony thing is the only thing that will stop the world from falling to pieces. I highly doubt that Hanna's going to pick either of them – it was looking like she would have gone for Mike, but Mike's been rather preoccupied dealing with Michele's death, and she doesn't want to get in the way of that. Things are going to happen that we've not anticipated, and you need to prepare for the fact that these might be the last few hours you will ever spend with Dawn," Anders said gently.

Ty squeezed his eyes shut again, but this time he couldn't stop a couple of tears from escaping.

"Ty, it really makes me happy that you're worried about dying, though – a previous you would have embraced Ragnarok with open arms," Anders tried to joke.

"Fuck you," Ty whispered, but he couldn't hide a smile. He pressed a hand to his face to stop him crying anymore.

"I hate the thought that I might leave her behind," he confessed, looking back to his brother. Anders' eyes were filled with concern, but Anders tried to hide it for his brother's sake.

"She'll be fine, Ty. She's strong. She's done it before, and she'll do it again."

"I'm not worried about her, I'm worried about

me. I can't go on without her. I can't die, knowing that I'm not with her."

"But you are with her. You'll always be with her. You wrote down all your cupcake recipes, right? That's how you'll live on forever. And she can marry someone else, but he'll never live up to you and your cupcakes." There was a whimper from the doorway, and Dawn came in and hugged Ty tightly, and started sobbing. Anders found it hard to stop crying himself, but it was unclear whether it was just because Dawn's tears were contagious or whether he was longing in that moment that he had someone to hold as firmly as Ty was cradling Dawn.

"I have to leave town tonight and see Mum," Dawn said through her tears. "Ty, you should come with me. It'll be safer."

"But if I go with you, I'm afraid I might not come back," Ty replied.

"Would that be such a bad thing?" Dawn asked into Ty's shirt. Ty desperately wanted to say 'No'; that they could go wherever they wanted as long as they were together, but Ty was aware of Anders' watchful eye, and he knew that he'd always regret not being together with his brothers when Ragnarok peaked. He had to stay.

"I'm sorry, I can't. But can you promise me you'll come back tomorrow morning? And that you'll text me if there's a big shake, and when you get to your mother's?"

"Of course." Anders was glad. The fewer people that had to get tangled up in this mess, the better. And if Dawn was out of town, then she wouldn't be tempted to try and help as she was likely to do.

"I have a survival kit for you to put in your car," Ty said, and he went to go find it. As soon as Ty had left the room, Anders took his chance. He swooped over to the couch where Dawn was sitting, and did the very thing she had banned him from doing.

"Dawn, this is very important. It's going to be very dangerous here tomorrow, so I need you to stay away from Auckland. Say your goodbyes to Ty tonight, and come back in a couple of days instead. Take your Mum, and try and get as far south as possible," he said softly, using his Bragi powers in that body one last time. Dawn just stared at him, her eyes glistening.

"Why?" His powers hadn't worked. She could see through them.

"Dawn…please. Please do this for us. We need to know that you're safe. Please." The sound of Anders pleading with her was the most frightening sound Dawn had ever heard; it sent chills down her spine. He was confirming her fears and making it too real. Plus the fact that Anders NEVER pleaded. It exposed a sort of desperation that she never wanted to hear from him again.

"You want me to lie to Ty." There was a pause, and Anders and Dawn could hear Ty digging around assembling the supplies to put in Dawn's car.

"Yes. Tomorrow morning's going to be fucking awful, to put it bluntly. You won't want tomorrow's stress to be the last memory you have of him." Dawn's shoulders drooped, and Anders knew that he had gotten through to her.

"Okay, that's everything," Ty announced; he was holding a plastic container. "I also put in some baking for your mother." The reactions he received were polar opposite; Dawn smiled gratefully, whilst Anders rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded like "AGAIN with the bloody cupcakes!"

Dawn looked at her watch. "I should probably go before they make the decision to close all roads out of the city." She got to her feet with Anders, and the three of them awkwardly stood there, not knowing how to proceed.

Anders made the first move, enveloping her in a big hug and making an offering of peace.
"I'll feed your cat for you."

"I don't HAVE a cat," Dawn retorted, but she held onto Anders for as long as possible. The possibility that she would never see him again was unfathomable.

And then there was Ty. Sweet, caring, compassionate Ty. She couldn't face saying anything to him. He whispered a comforting goodbye in her ear and she held onto him for as long as possible.

"Won't be long," and neither of them knew exactly to what Ty was referring.