Clint Barton stumbled out of bed towards the kitchen, groggily pouring himself a cup of coffee and adding several spoons of sugar. Fluffy (1), his cat, rubbed up against his sweatpants and left a streak of fur. He scooped him up in one hand and retired to the kitchen table, where he turned on the news on his iPad and sat down to drink with the cat on his lap. He rested his chin in his hands as he stared at the screen. It was all boring, same old stuff.

Ever since SHIELD had begun working on Project Insight, Fury had kept him away from the headquarters, usually doing paltry tasks like helping out the IMF or, worst of all, training new recruits. Barton was angry. He knew nothing about the project except its name, but he did know for a fact that Brock Rumlow was on the strike team, and that curdled his soul. Rumlow was smart, strong, and well-trained, but he hadn't been in SHIELD as long as Barton and he certainly hadn't been as helpful to them. Who was it that had infiltrated Loki's secret hideout, Barton wanted to know? At least he had one consolation: Nat didn't know anything more than he did. But she was at least working at important things, like helping out Rogers. He was just stuck here in London, waiting for Fury to finally tell him what to do.

He grunted in annoyance and slid Fluffy onto the table before going to the fridge and taking out some milk for his cereal. He reached for Cap'n Crunch, but for some reason that reminded him of Rogers and in turn of Natasha, so he went for Lucky Charms instead. It reminded him of Loki. He missed Loki a little bit. He knew he shouldn't, and was angry at himself for feeling that way. It was just his brainwashing acting up. Sometimes he still thought like a Frost Giant, which was freaky. He didn't need another therapy session right now. Those talks with the psychiatrist were half the reason Fury wouldn't let him near SHIELD headquarters. Frankly, the Director was scared of him.

There was a loud, explosive sound from his iPad and he turned quickly, stepping towards it as what looked like a gigantic spaceship appeared on screen.

"No way," he said to Fluffy. "Is that the Royal Naval Academy? Who's landing a spaceship in Greenwich?"

He looked closer as a red cape flew across the screen.

"Oh, I should have known. Thor, you really need to stop making your brother mad. I got to see if Nat is seeing this!"

He ran to his bedroom for his phone. He Snapchatted Natasha a picture of the news, and then realized that he had missed three messages in the night. Who was texting him in the middle of the night? It couldn't be Natasha because he had her on a special ringtone which he had programmed himself to wake up to. He opened them and his eyes grew wide.

2:14 am

(1)Dear Agent Barton,

My idiot of a brother is trying to save his girlfriend's life whilst defying his father. (Who is not my father.) He asked for my help but I have a bad pre

(2)monition about it. I would feel much safer if you joined us on Svartalfheim. Do it for an old friend? –Loki of Jotunheim

6:21 am

(3) Barton for Odin's sake, please

"Who does he think he is?" demanded Clint. "And it's totally obvious he's just attacking Thor now and I don't want to get in that dude's way."

He texted back.

-Go back to Jotunheim, you frosty freak. And if I were you, I'd leave Thor alone. Getting my bow to go help him now so back off.

He went to get his bow from his bedroom, tossing his cereal bowl in the sink. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out.

-Who is this?

He rolled his eyes.

-Barton, bruh. Who else has a bow?

-Barton, please help us, Malekith is attacking the universe and Thor lost his hammer and Eric and Darcy need help, please come quick.

Barton raised an eyebrow.

-Don't try to trick me, Loki, I'm not falling for it.

-This isn't Loki this is Jane. Loki was using my phone. He's dead now.

"What!?" Clint collapsed on the bed and stared at his phone. "That's not possible."

-No way is he really?

There was no answer. He began to pack up his bow as he waited, but when he was suited up ten minutes later and there was still no response, he began to be worried.

"What's the fastest way to Greenwich?" he asked Fluffy.

He glanced at the iPad, then jumped forward and looked more closely.

"This is unbelievable," stuttered the newscaster. "The entire spaceship has just disappeared. It's gone. What happened? I can't explain. . ."

"This day better not get any more crazy," said Barton, "or I'm going to assemble the Avengers. Fluffy, wait here till I get back!"

He dashed out the door and down the stairs of the apartment complex, then out into the street, where people were gathered, staring wide-eyed at the sky. Barton raced past them and for once, nobody turned to stare at the crazy guy with the bow. As he darted past an alley a loud whooshing sound and fluctuating blue light caught his attention. He stopped and looked over into the shadows by a bunch of garbage bins.

A large, blue, box-like thing was wedged comfortably between the two houses, blocking the alleyway. It read Police Public Call Box at the top. Barton rolled his eyes as the door opened and a floppy-haired man in a brown suit stepped out. He looked at his box, then at Barton.

"Hello!" he said. "I'm the Doctor. Excuse me, but could you tell me what year it is?"

"It's 2013," said Barton. "And you could have gotten here a little bit sooner!"

"Why, what's going on?" asked the man in the box.

"A spaceship just landed in Greenwich," said Barton. "And then disappeared again."

"What?" asked the Doctor. "What? What? I really should have seen that on my timey-wimey-detector but the Tardis is having problems at the moment. What kind of spaceship?"

"It was big, cross-like thing," said Barton.

"Show me! Run!"

"It's not there anymore," said Barton, running through the streets after the Doctor. "Like I said, it disappeared."

"Who was flying it?" asked the Doctor.

"I don't know, I think she said it was somebody named Malekith?"

"Oh," said the Doctor, pausing. "That's not good."

"Why not?" asked Barton, coming up alongside him. "Who is he?"

"He's a Dark Elf," said the Doctor. "But he wasn't always. You see, he's by way of being a sort of relative of mine."

"I thought you didn't have any relatives," said Barton.

"No, well, not exactly. He, um, well, in a way, he used to be me."

"What!?" asked Barton.

"Not exactly," said the Doctor, "it's just that when we regenerate, our old incarnations kind of float around in time and space and sometimes, you know, they get taken over by other lifeforms. So, if you know what I mean. . ."

"So it's not you," said Barton, "it just looks like you."

"I'm not even sure it does," said the Doctor, "but it probably looks enough like me."

"To what?"

"Be dangerous," said the Doctor. He whipped out his sonic screwdriver. "Now where did you say it went?"

"It just disappeared," said Barton, as the Doctor pointed his screwdriver at the sky and took some readings.

"Wait!" he said. "What am I even thinking? This is the Convergence! That's why the Tardis isn't working well! This is an absolute time and space anomaly!"

"Look!" said Barton, pointing. He had glimpsed a red cape amidst the wreckage by the Academy. "Thor's still here."

He ran towards it, the Doctor following. Jane Foster looked up as Barton ran towards them and Thor pushed himself to a sitting position.

"What happened?" Barton demanded.

"I sent the ship to Svartalfheim!" said Selvig, walking up with a strange device in his hands.

"But what about whoever was flying it?" said Barton. "Where's Malekith?"

"The Dark Elf has returned to Svartalfheim as well, Agent Barton," said Thor.

"But he might still be alive!" cried the Doctor.

"What happened to Loki?" asked Barton.

Thor looked at the ground. "My brother," he said, "fell on the slopes of Svartalfheim while fighting the Kursed. May his soul rest there in peace."

The Doctor started backing away.

"Where are you going?" demanded Barton.

"Svartalfheim," said the Doctor. "I have to find out if Malekith is still alive."

Barton ran after him. "I'm coming with you."

"Why?"

"There's something I have to see."

"All right," said the Doctor. "Allonsy-y!"

He jumped into the blue box and looked back at Barton.

"One condition," he said. "You have to leave the bow."

"It's not a gun!" protested Hawkeye.

"What are you going to do?" asked the Doctor. "Shoot an arrow at a Dark Elf?"

"Isn't that the way elves fight? I take my bow everywhere. I'm not leaving without it."

"Keep it in the Tardis, then," said the Doctor.

"OK," said Hawkeye. He jumped in and the Doctor began fiddling with the controls. "But only while I'm in it, too."

The Doctor scowled. "I'm going to drop you off in Middle Earth," he threatened.

The Tardis whooshed a few times, then stopped. The Doctor ran to the door and looked out, then slammed the door quickly.

"Give me a sec," he said. "That was Kronos of the Klingons. Not exactly somewhere we want to be right now."

"Why not?" asked Barton, with interest, heading for the door. The Doctor pulled him back and worked the controls again. "Because it's about to get a lot of missiles shot at it," he said.

"Well, aren't you supposed to stop that?" asked Barton.

"Eh, I'm sure they'll work it all out," said the Doctor, evasively. He went back to the door. Here we go, Svartalfheim. The Tardis is having a little trouble, sorry. The Convergence is throwing it off."

He and Barton stepped out of the Tardis and onto the cold, windy slopes of Svartalfheim.

"We'll never find either of them here!" said Barton.

"Either of them?" asked the Doctor. He hesitated as Barton didn't respond. "Oh, I see. Somebody you knew?"

"He wasn't exactly a friend," said Barton. "But –" He paused, looking out at the dark world. "He asked for my help just before he died." He slapped himself in the head. "It's probably just my mind playing tricks again but somehow, I want to see him."

The Doctor pointed. "Is that the ship you were talking about?"

They walked over toward the rubble of a huge, cross-shaped spaceship, slipping and sliding down the hillside and kicking up little rocks. The Doctor walked along it, scanning it with his sonic screwdriver. Then he turned off the blue light and sighed.

"I'm not getting any life readings," he said.

Barton looked around. "This place doesn't feel like it's had any life readings in ages," he said. Suddenly, a shape on the ground some distance away caught his attention. "There!"

He ran over towards the green and black form, followed by the Doctor. The dark hair, the pale skin and thin frame were all too familiar, but the face was grey, the eyes were open and empty of the old, mischievous glint. Barton felt for a pulse but there was nothing. The wind blew dust around them as they stood there, looking down at the demigod's lifeless form.

"I'm just kinda surprised," said Barton. "After all this time, he's finally gone. I wonder who did it?"

The Doctor sighed. "I don't think there's anybody alive on this planet but you and me," he said. "Let's leave."

Barton nodded, still staring at Loki.

"Why did he call for me?" he asked.

"What?" asked the Doctor.

"Why did he ask me for help? Why ask anybody? Loki doesn't ask for help."

The Doctor shrugged, sympathetically.

"Am I really his only friend in the world?" asked Barton. "Was I the only person he thought would ever help him out?"

"Come on, Agent Barton," said the Doctor.

"Doctor," said Barton, still not moving.

"What?"

"You got plans tonight?"

"Not really."

"Good."

Barton turned around and started walking towards the Tardis.

"I don't like the way you said that," said the Doctor, pursuing him. "What's good?"

"I'm not asking for anything long-term," said Barton, turning towards him as he walked. "Just one trip, that's all."

"Wait, wait, wait," said the Doctor. "You know what one trip turns into."

"I'm not interested in any of that," said Barton. "I just need a favor, and I'll leave you alone forever. Just one. You want to see somebody live for once, don't you?"

"I'm not going back in time to save Loki," said the Doctor. "I can't. It's not allowed."

"I'm not asking you to," said Barton, stepping into the Tardis.

"What are you asking?"

"Take me back to Kronos," said Barton.

1 All credits for Fluffy to Alassiel in How to Live with a Demigod 101.