Chapter Eighteen: Through the Rabbit Hole

Emma cursed as she followed after Darcy; the girl was faster than she was even though Emma was a super soldier. Finally, after moping for Thor for so long Jane was putting herself out there and now Darcy was just going to crash her date. She couldn't let that happen. She thought about tackling the other woman but that would just cause a scene and Darcy was already doing that. She approached Jane's and Richard's table.

"Hi, can we some wine please?" Richard asked.

"Sure, I'd love some," Darcy said as she pulled up a chair to their table and sitting down. Emma finally arrived when she sat down.

"I'm so sorry, Jane, I tried to stop her," Emma said sheepishly.

"There's no stopping Darcy once she's put her mind to something," Jane said, shooting a glare at Darcy.

"I'm going to take that as a compliment," Darcy replied.

"You really shouldn't," Emma told her.

"Richard, this is Darcy and Emma," Jane introduced. "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 pajamas eating ice cream obsessing about you know who. . . ," Darcy rambled as she helped herself to the bread on their table. "But you're not! You're wearing lady clothes. You even showered, didn't you? You smell good?"

"Is there a point to all of this, cause there really has to be a point to all of this?" Jane asked.

"Right, you know that scientific equipment you don't look at anymore? You might want to start looking at it now," she said as she gave the gadget to Jane.

"You couldn't have told me that's why you came here to interrupt Jane's date?" Emma asked her friend.

"And spoil the surprise?" Darcy grinned at her then turned back to Jane. "This is the reason we came all the way out here."

Jane studied the malfunctioning gadget and hit it a few times to make sure she was reading it correctly. The astrophysicist decided that it was nothing and gave it back to her intern.

"He's not interested. I'm not interested. Time for you to go now," Jane told them.

"You're so sure that she's going to come?" Emma asked as she followed Darcy back to her car.

"First of all, I've known Jane longer than you and second of all, scientists are naturally curious about everything," Darcy said, as she got into the driver's seat while Emma waited beside it.

"Don't I know it," Emma muttered under her breath, thinking that Darcy couldn't hear her.

"Okay, so many questions about that," Darcy began but was interrupted by Jane entering the vehicle. "Later."

Darcy was soon pulling out of the parking lot with Emma following behind in her own vehicle as they drove through London. They were driving normally at first but a moment later they were swerving left and right to reach their destination.

"Who the bloody hell taught Darcy to drive?" Emma scowled.

Emma always became just a bit more British whenever she came to London. She remembered when Gran taught her how to drive here and she had been quick to pick it up. Peggy had boasted that it had been her English blood to show her the way. She loved traveling to London with Gran, it had been both of their favorite pastimes before she had been diagnosed. Lost in the memories Emma almost missed following Darcy to an abandoned factory.

"Remind me to teach you how to drive in London, Darcy," Emma said after they all got out of their respective vehicles. "Ian."

"You remember my name?" Ian asked.

"Of course, we met only moments earlier," Emma said. "Darcy, how are you treating your intern?"

"I'd say pretty fairly," she replied and Ian opened his mouth to disagree then decided to keep it shut.

They entered the old building with Ian carrying the phase meter Jane told Darcy not to bring. As soon as they entered the building they heard a noise and Darcy held up her hands, shouting at it. Darcy could be utterly ridiculous at times but that's what Emma enjoyed about her. Three kids came bursting from their hiding place, afraid that they might be the police.

The kids lead Jane, Darcy, Emma, and Ian to a truck. Emma watched in amazement as one of the boys touched the truck and pushed it up with two fingers, the truck beginning to float in mid-air. Emma' eyebrows rose in surprise. The kids then showed them to a stairwell in the factory, one of them dropping a bottle down and watching as the bottle disappeared into thin air.

"Where did it go?" Darcy and Emma said in unison.

"Jinx!" Darcy exclaimed and Emma cursed.

The girl pointed her finger up; they looked up to see the bottle reappear above them, continuously and disappear in the same spots in the air. Jane picked up a can, dropping it down, and they watched as the can did the same thing. It didn't come back and according to the kids, they sometimes didn't. Darcy wanted to throw Jane's shoe and when Jane ignored her, she tried to take Emma's.

"I should remind you of who I've been training with, Lewis," Emma said and slapped her hand away.

"Ian, give me your shoe," Darcy said.

"Ian, don't give her your shoe," Emma replied.

Jane studied the kids dropping objects into the anomaly while looking at her. Emma took her eyes off of Jane briefly to watch as Ian dropped the car keys down into it and she face palmed. Emma walked away to move along side Jane as she followed the readings on her device. The both of them felt a sudden gust of wind as they were teleported to another realm. Jane didn't even notice.

"Uh, Alice, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," Emma said.

Jane and Emma looked around to see a column holding something strange. It was red and glowing. Emma wasn't sure that she liked it, she couldn't describe it, and there was a tingling sensation on the back of her neck. Her eyes widened when she saw that Jane was reaching for it and Emma couldn't let her touch it. She pushed Jane away from it, entering Emma instead of Jane, and she passed out.

"The Aether awakens us. The Convergence returns."