Author's Notes: Yay! So busy... trying so hard to get posts up. :'D

Disclaimer: I wish, but it is not so.

Chapter 10- Letting Go

Lokhor let out a yelp as he tripped over debris as they ran. "Lokhor!" Darcy called as she skidded to a halt to run back and help him.

"Go!" Lokhor shouted at her.

Suddenly Thor appeared above them locked in combat with Malekith. They flew across the open space but disappeared again before they hit the building on the other side of the street. This place was going to Helheim faster than they could have predicted! Everyone was everywhere and Jane couldn't warp the elves fast enough to keep them away.

Darcy took Lokhor's hand as he reached for her. She pulled him to his feet as Ian came running back. "This is looking to be a fine dandy day!" Darcy stated. Lokhor shook his head at the sarcasm filling her voice. She could say whatever she wanted but that didn't change their predicament. They continued to run.

A thunderous roar echoed from a side alley. Lokhor looked over in time to see a blue-skinned beast come rampaging out of the small opening next to them. He grabbed for Darcy and Ian and only managed to snag Darcy's coat. He dove for the ground as debris scattered over them. There was a Jotun hound running loose in the city streets now!?

Lokhor hit the ground with a bone jarring thud. He looked up as the elves following them were crushed under the giant behemoth's paws and then it was gone. They were safe for the moment? Lokhor didn't have much faith in that thought. They would be found soon enough.

He pushed himself up from the ground and looked around wildly. "Ian!?" he called out. The intern was nowhere in sight.

Unrecognizable words filled Lokhor's ears. He turned sharply as more elves appeared from the way they were running. They had been running into a trap before the giant creature's hapless intervention.

Lokhor backed away as the Dark Elves moved in. Darcy looked up from the ground where she still lay in a daze. Her eyes were wide as weapons were pointed at them. Lokhor held his stolen blade in front of him. It was do or die now…

Suddenly, a car came flying into his path. The elves were crushed under the flying object as it came down on them. Lokhor stood there in shock. Where had the car come from?!

Darcy stood as Ian turned around a few yards away; a shiny metal piece was in his hands. It looked like the metal on the outside of the cars… Had he thrown the whole car at the elves!?

"You saved my life…" Darcy commented as Ian dropped the twisted metal in his hands.

"Well I was just—" Ian started but Darcy cut him off. She planted a kiss straight to his lips. Lokhor turned away in disgust. Really? Here? This wasn't the time to get emotional and all that mushy stuff!

He looked around the area for a moment. Something wasn't right about the air. Lokhor brushed a hand in front of him and saw tiny tendrils gloss over his hands. "Darcy! Ian!" he gasped but his warning wasn't soon enough.

They were all pulled into another hole. Lokhor stumbled a little as he regained his footing. "AH!" he jumped as he came face to face with Jane. The other woman looked just as spooked as he felt.

"Whoa! Lokhor," Jane greeted him quickly. She hesitated and glanced around Lokhor in confusion, "Darcy?!"

"Jane!" Darcy dropped the intern she had been holding. Ian hit the ground in surprise.

"Ian?!" Eric gasped as he looked over Jane's shoulder.

"Eric!" the man responded.

"Um…" Lokhor didn't know what was going on but anything he was going to say was cut off as Mjolnir flew over their heads.

"Mewmew!" Darcy called out as she followed the hammer with her finger.

"Mjolnir!" Lokhor couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"Mewmew," Darcy shrugged, "Mi-yo-nuh. Same difference."

Lokhor facepalmed. It wasn't the same, but that wasn't his concern right now. Mjolnir was not in his father's hand. Where was Thor then? Were the two still bouncing between realms?

"How close are we to the time," Lokhor looked up at Eric.

Eric checked the bracelet charm on his wrist, "We still have… 5 minutes!"

Loki approached the group, wiping blood from her face. Lokhor looked at his mother in alarm. That had better not have been her own!

"They're regrouping," Loki told them. She paused briefly to ruffle Lokhor's hair and then her attention turned to Jane, "I can handle some of them but you will need to get rid of the rest…"

"Okie dokie Loki," the woman responded.

Lokhor made a face at the phrase. What was with the rhyming?

The ground shook under their feet. Loki's eyes widened as she turned back toward the grassy area where the elven ship was. "No…" she whispered.

Lokhor could feel the magic in the air as it swirled and spiked. Where had his father gone!? This energy felt exactly like the Aether when they were in Svartalfheim! Malekith couldn't be using it… Thor was distracting him!

"Thor is not distracting Malekith!"

Loki felt the pulse of power as the Aether lifted into the sky. Where was Thor!? She couldn't sense him anywhere in the immediate area. Had he gotten stuck in one of the holes between realms!? Loki swore and tried to feel for the magnetic pull of Mjolnir.

The hammer came hurtling toward her with a simple response. Loki looked up as elves filled the open corridor in front of the group.

Jane used her device to transport many of them away, but the gravity gaps could only do so much. They still had a handful left. "Okay! It's up to you!" Jane shouted.

"Go!" Loki told them. She heard their footsteps recede. Magic came to Loki's hands as she raised them. Lokhor appeared at her side with one of the elvish swords in his hand.

Loki glanced at her son and then fired a spell at the nearest elf. It fell backward and the others charged. Loki blocked a blade with her dagger and froze the creature's face solid. She heard the clash of steel as Lokhor met an attacker.

She turned and met the next elf with deft movements. She caught it across the side of the head before he swung his sword and shoved the man to the side. She froze him before turning back to deal with two more.

They were rather easy to read. Loki had no problem with dealing with the rest of them. A clatter of a weapon on the ground made Loki freeze. She turned just as Lokhor dived for his sword. He rolled on the ground as the elf pursued his movements.

Loki raised her hand to blast the creature away when Lokhor came up into a crouch and twisted sharply. His blade was true, straight into the Dark Elf's chest. The creature staggered in shock and Lokhor dislodged his sword by kicking the elf away.

Her son looked at the blood on the weapon and then at her. Loki's eyes widened.

Lokhor's first kill.

Loki hadn't expected it to come at such an early age. She stared at her son as he dropped the blade in his hands. As much as she wanted to take him into her arms and hold him, Loki couldn't move.

A dark look crossed Lokhor's face. He slowly turned to Loki, "Mother…"

Loki met his blue eyes. They held a determination that couldn't help but remind Loki of Thor's eyes.

"There is something I need to do… and you're not going to like it," he stated.

Loki furrowed her brow at the declaration. There was a lot that they were doing that she disliked right now. What was he thinking?

"The Aether… I can stop Malekith… or at least hold him off until father gets back," her son told her. Loki reeled at the idea. No! He wasn't going to face Malekith! "It should respond to me. The Aether chose me remember?"

Loki opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. They had to stop Malekith and she couldn't without risking her life. Lokhor would risk his for such a thing… The thought cut into Loki's heart deeply. No… no no no, she couldn't. She couldn't allow him!

Lokhor took her hands in his and Loki met his gaze again as he looked up at her, "I can do this! Please trust me."

"I do…" the words fell from Loki's lips. She blinked back tears as Lokhor smiled briefly.

"I will come back," Lokhor told her firmly. Her son took off down the hall in a flash. Loki lifted a hand to stop him but the agonizing fear she felt crippled her attempt.

She had to let it go. They would all perish if someone didn't do something. She had to let it go. The worry and fear would still be there, but she had to be strong and support her family no matter what happened. She needed to be there to help him, not hinder him.

A calm settled in Loki's heart that had been gone for years. She let go of the fear and saw everything clearly in that moment as Lokhor's steps brought him out into the desolated courtyard of the college.

She let it all go as she turned to find a reasonable place to cast some helpful spells. This wasn't over yet.

Thor looked around as he rose from the ground. He was in a high-vaulted manmade room. It looked like a tunnel of some kind. He turned as metal doors opened in front of him. A blonde woman stared at him from where she stood inside the metal machine.

"How far to Greenwich?" Thor demanded lightly. He had no clue as to where he was.

The woman raised an eyebrow and then gestured inside the machine with her head, "Three stops from here if you get on now."

Thor nodded and stepped into the strange Midgardian contraption. It appeared to be some sort of transportation device. Why were there so many of them here? Were humans really that lazy?

The doors closed in front of him with a hiss. The woman who had spoken to him fell against his chest as the transporter lurched forward. He helped her back to her feet gently and she gave him a sheepish smile. What an odd device this was. It could be dangerous for passengers to travel in if they did not hold onto the handles given or sit in the surrounding seats. Every spot seemed to be occupied though as Thor glanced around.

If he had Mjolnir he would have just flown. The hammer was somewhere else though. It had probably tried to follow him as he and Malekith bounced from realm to realm in their fight. Thor had known something silly would happen, but he never guessed a slap fight with the holes between realms would occur.

There went the promise to Loki to not do anything foolish—not that he could really help it. He had thrown Malekith into a car in the parking lot, but the elf had never made contact with the metal. This had been before Thor had realized just how messed up the area was with gravity and the breeches between worlds. Malekith had come flying back through the hole and punched him in the face. That strike only seemed to send them through another hole and then another. After bouncing around a series of them and trying to land a hit on Malekith in the process, Thor had dropped into the gray-stoned station for this transportation device.

"Where are you from?" the woman next to him spoke up.

It took Thor a moment to register the question. He looked at her, "I'm… not from around here."

"I can see that," she replied. "Are you an actor or tourist or something?"

"I am here to defend your world," Thor didn't think she needed to know the details. He had to concentrate on getting back to the fighting.

"Oh, so you are an actor. Tell me, what are you doing? A street performance of heroes?" the lady's interest seemed peaked, "My sister was involved in one of those. They call them flash mobs. She was a ninja."

"I see," Thor had no idea what a flash mob was or what a ninja meant. He gave her a serious look, "Your world is being attacked by an ancient evil. I need to get to Greenwich to stop it from destroying this realm and every realm beyond your borders."

"Realm? Oh I see! You're acting like that thunder god… what's his name? Thor?" the lady was amused by her ramblings, "That explains the outfit."

Thor had to roll his eyes as he looked away. He wasn't going to get anywhere with this woman believing he was a street performer. He sighed and hoped the Greenwich stop was coming soon.

Lokhor was calm despite the rush of emotions going through his head. He saw the swirling vortex before him as he approached Malekith. The Dark Elf was positioned on an upturned rock in the middle of the not-so-grassy-anymore area.

The Aether.

It had chosen him before. Was it possible he could control it—even for a fraction of a few seconds? It could give them the time they needed until Thor returned…. Wherever his father had gone. All they needed was a distraction until the Convergence was over. That was the main goal.

Lokhor started forward. This was his fight, and his fight alone.

He held out a hand to the vortex.

"Little Asgardian," he heard the rumble of Malekith's voice. The Dark Elf turned toward him with a stoic expression, "You are too late."

Lokhor concentrated on the vortex. He couldn't be distracted by the other man. Whispers filled his ears as Lokhor's vision reddened on the edges.

He would control the Aether if it was the last thing he did!

Malekith staggered in his vision and the Dark Elf looked up in shock. Lokhor felt the surge of energy as it rippled toward him. He pressed the weapon away from his body as the dusty red particles came flying at him. The liquid stone swirled around Lokhor's body as part of it settled around him.

"You will not have the Aether! I am its maker!" Malekith roared over the open area.

Lokhor was pulled forward as Malekith commanded the Aether to him once more. The liquid stone started to scatter and be drawn back but Lokhor couldn't let it do so! He pulled his arms back and tried to imagine the stone coming to him again. Was he even doing this right?!

A rush of wind blew past his ears. Lokhor felt his feet leave the ground. He glanced down and found himself floating a few inches off the ground as the Aether picked him up. More of it was coming to him!

"I created you! Obey!" Malekith snarled as he pulled the Aether toward him with more force. Lokhor braced himself for the jolt that followed. He could feel the tendrils running along his skin that held him aloft.

The Aether curved in the air between them. It was fighting between the conflicting commands. Part of it would swirl toward Lokhor and then it would go back toward Malekith. Lokhor held his hands out. He wouldn't force the weapon to come to him. If it wanted to, it could, but it couldn't go back to Malekith.

"Please come," Lokhor begged the liquid stone as it rippled toward Malekith once more.

The stone was almost back to Malekith when it veered straight into the sky. Both of them looked up as the entire weapon ascended. Malekith must have not known what the Aether was doing because his shocked expression was as real as Lokhor's.

The Aether split into multiple tendrils of flowing liquid stone as it came careening back toward them.

"Please," Lokhor whispered as more tendrils fell toward Malekith than him. Malekith held out his hand and the tendrils falling toward Lokhor dispersed toward the Dark Elf.

Lokhor's feet hit the ground as the Aether was ripped out of his possession. He stumbled to his knees and his muscles protested weakly. Controlling the Aether had used more strength than Lokhor had anticipated. What was he going to do now?! He was an open target for the Dark Elf's wrath!

"Foolish child," Malekith spat at him. Lokhor looked up at the Dark Elf, "If you wanted to die, you need only have asked."

Malekith raised his hands and the Aether spiraled into sharp points that came flying straight at Lokhor. He put his hands up to protect himself as he staggered backward with a cry.