Their plan was rudimentary at best, and frankly Nat wasn't quite sure what to think of it. Thor would distract the dark elves for as long as was necessary to try and miss the convergence, while Selvig and Jane would utilize the gravitational spikes that Darcy and Ian would set up all around the area. And Natasha? Well, she wasn't quite sure there was for her to do. With a beast like the one Thor was sizing up she had little to no chance physically, and there was no reasoning with the beast the way she'd done with Loki in New York. For the first time she felt, well, excessive. Out of place. Was this how Fury felt as he watched the other Avengers going into battle? No, even then he at least called the shots, while all of this was so out of Natasha's comfort zone and understanding it was near damn ridiculous. She supposed she could take on the other dark elves while Thor fought the biggest, but that was what the spikes were for, she thought.

'Protect the civilians,' she reminded herself as she looked over at them, Jane and Selvig murmuring quietly to one another as Jane looked over the mechanism in her hands, the astrophysicist tinkering with the nozzles as she went over how it worked with the doctor, while Darcy and Ian to her side shared a pair of earbuds, Darcy blabbering on about the new songs on her iPod as they drove, all of them keen to almost forget that they were going off to fight beings that were out of this world. As if it were a daily occurrence.

'Shouldn't I be more that way?' Nat couldn't help but wonder. She'd had similar experience to fighting aliens, and fighting alongside them as well, yet the strange thrum in her veins and the bobbing of her right leg was enough to prove that things weren't wholly alright. Thor had already gone on ahead, wishing to take a quick surveillance of the area, and Nat longed for his steadiness, for the familiarity of having another team member nearby. But this was monsters, and magic, and nothing she'd ever been trained for she reminded herself. Perhaps nerves were a good sign. They'd keep her on her toes, certainly, and that could mean everything when it came to keeping her alive, and keeping them all alive as well.

Classes were still in session by the time they got there, and as Darcy and Ian ran around setting up the spikes, Natasha, Selvig, and Jane went through the enormous library, Jane trying to tell the students that had surrounded to leave, that it was too dangerous for them. Not that it was any use. By that time they'd spotted Thor, who'd come to stand in center of the courtyard judging by the way that the students shouted about him and pulled out their cellphones. It'd be trending on twitter any time now, Nat was certain, picking up the pace as she kept close to the two scientists.

"Idiots," Jane was muttering under her breath. "They'll get themselves killed for a good look."

"Isn't that what you were doing the first time that you saw the bifrost bringing Thor down?" Natasha asked, though her tone was light enough to make the astrophysicist smile despite her blush.

"That was science. Different. They're just being stupid," she muttered but she looked back down at the computer in her grasp before holding out a hand to Selvig, who passed her the phone with Darcy on the other line. "Nearly done?"

"Yeah just a-HOLY SHIT!"

They didn't have to look far to see what Darcy was shouting about, the whole ground pitching them forward a few paces as the enormous hull of the Dark Elves' ship crashed into the courtyard. Nat's eyes sought out Thor, looking so small standing in front of the monstrous piece of technology. Her own phone was out moments later, Fury on the other line, telling him that it was time. He thanked her for the information and mobilized two jets to try and take on the threat himself, as Natasha watched with bated breath while the horned monster stepped from the alien craft, his henchmen in tow, and strode towards Thor.

Nothing was said that Natasha could hear between the two of them, and soon enough the fight was on, the monster taking the first crack at Thor's skull, the poisonous air of the Aether pushing the Asgardian backwards, though Thor quickly retaliated with a lightning beam of his own, striking the creature on the top of the head. The beast seemed to absorb it, however, charging instead at Thor.

Nat had to pull her eyes away to turn her attention instead to the oncoming dark elves. Stings at the ready, gun already cocked and in hand, positioned at the headplate of the nearest elf, she muttered: "Now might be a good time to make sure that your gravitational spikes work, Jane."

"Trying," Jane said, sounding stressed as the antagonists stepped closer and Nat gritted her teeth. Shit shit shit. She hoped bullets were good enough to work against them, because if not she only had so many stings, and she was certain there were more of them than there were of her own weapons.

She'd just considered squeezing off a few bullets to test their strength out before the air in front of them swallowed them entirely, rippling as the three coming to their left disappeared.

Nat barely needed the cellphone to hear Darcy exclaiming how awesome that was, egging Jane on to get a different variety of the elves before the call went dead and Jane went pale.

"Oh God. Don't tell me-."

Eric looked down at where Darcy and Ian had been standing and blanched. "They're not there."

Jane swore, but she didn't have much time to focus on it, Nat tugging she and Selvig back as Mjolnir went flying towards them, crashing into the pillars that they'd been standing under, having been hit off course by the monster Thor was fighting. As if they hadn't had enough problems with its size, but now its strength was leaving much to be desired in Thor's favor. As Mjolnir went flying back towards her owner, Nat shouted for the others to go and find a different shelter, one further away from the two combating giants, all but pushing Selvig to move faster. The last thing she needed was losing two of the most brilliant minds SHIELD had had in awhile, though she'd never tell Tony that she counted them both that highly. Well, not unless he pissed her off royally.

As they ran Jane fiddled with the nozzles on the machine, and again there was another loud crack of lightning and thunder, the air heavy with the smell of ozone.

"GET DOWN!" Nat shouted to the students still close to the windows, and only the smart ones who listened to her managed to avoid getting a face full of glass as the windows shattered, shouts of surprise and pain ringing through the library as Nat herded the two scientists out. They needed to move faster, dammit! Waiting for them at the end of the library, however, were a couple more of the dark elves, guns already pointed at the oncomers, their shots ricocheting off the walls as Nat pushed the others behind her. Taking two of her stings in hand she threw them onto their arms, watching as the electricity coursed through their bodies and made them drop, limp to the ground, allowing for Nat to kick them out of the way to get Selvig and Jane somewhere else. Anywhere but this close to the battle. Jane actually stopped, catching sight of three other elves that were looking to gang up on Thor despite his attention being on the horned beast, and though Nat grabbed for her arm, Jane managed two twist one of the toggles just right so that the elves disappeared.

Her shout of glee was cut short by Kurse punching Thor so far back that he, too, went through a portal.

"Shit."

"C'mon," Nat urged. "He's a big boy, he can take care of himself," she promised as she yanked Jane again. "Though nice going. Any chance you can get Darcy and Ian back?"

Jane's face went white and she nodded, trying her hardest. In a half minute the two reappeared in place of the approaching dark elves, Darcy's lips mashed up against Ian's as she dipped him low. Oh. Well then. An awkward silence fell between them all as it finally hit the two that they were no longer alone. Ian fell with a shout to the ground, Darcy looking thoroughly pleased with herself despite the red cheeks.

"Still got it," she grinned.

There wasn't much time for her to rejoice, however, as Mjolnir went racing past them, Darcy calling out her pet name for it as it narrowly avoided the column they were standing beside, Nat's gaze following its trajectory. Above the enormous ship, now firmly planted into the once well-manicured courtyard, a half dozen or so rings had opened up, showing different worlds. "The Convergence," she heard Selvig whisper, stepping even closer to get a better look at it. "We've run out of time."

And the Aether had begun to flow through the monster, who now stepped closer to his ship, arms stretched out and head tipping upwards as the force flowed through his body and surged in drastic, enormous swirls of power, fingertips reaching up to the other realms. Nat felt her heart pounding even harder, her eyes going wide. They'd failed.

No. Impossible. She refused to fail, not like this, not when they'd already lost so many. It wouldn't be-couldn't be-for nothing.

Thor landed near them, coming from behind and crashing hard onto the ground. He growled as he watched Kurse, and prepared to take off to try and beat the creature back into submission, but Nat's hand on his shoulder stopped him, her eyes catching on the nearest gravitation spikes. "These warp the distance between the worlds, right?" She asked Jane, who looked away from the awful sight in front of her to nod. Running forward and digging one, then two, out of the ground, she pressed them into Thor's empty hand.

"You can beat him. But you can send him somewhere where the Aether can't get to the other realms," she reminded him, meeting his gaze with a tip of her head. "And Jane, you can get him there."

The scientist nodded, her lips pulled into a tight line. Thor considered it for half a second, then nodded. No parting words were spoken, none of them wanting to believe that this could be the end if they didn't succeed, and with time already running out Thor took off running towards the beast, lost in the haze of the red smoke. Nat's nails bit into her palms, watching the machine in Jane's hands, praying and waiting with baited breath for something to show up, for the signals to connect or whatever. Jane knew what she was doing, though, and the moment it beeped she twisted the toggle on the right, then the left, grinning when the signal went out. By the time the second hit she twisted it once more, and there was a loud, blood turning scream from the center of the smoke before a tremor ran through the land, sending them all backwards in a whirlwind. Nat's head hit hard on the pavement below her, vision spinning as she looked up and towards where the two men had been battling. Thor, alone, remained, though he didn't move, and all thought for those around her vanished as Natasha scrambled to her feet and ran, full force towards him. No, no he couldn't be dead! She wouldn't allow it, dammit all!

"Thor-Thor wake up," she demanded, skidding to a stop at his side, catching his head between her hands and trying to feel for a pulse, finding it thready and weak but still-blessedly-there. Not that she had time to breathe a sigh of relief. The power surge that had blown them all back had cracked the foundations of the ship, and as she clung to Thor's body, grateful to find him still alive, she heard it start to deteriorate, the rumbling getting louder as she looked behind her. Fuck! Standing quickly, she grabbed him by one of the wrists and tried to tug him away, but found him heavier than a sack of bricks. No-no! She pulled harder, shouting as her muscles burned and her arms nearly popped out of their sockets, but the crash never came, and the next time she looked up the entire ship had disappeared.

She looked back to catch Jane grinning and nearly collapsed with relief. "I owe you big time," she called back, throat scratchy, as Thor, finally, stirred beside her. She turned to him and snorted. "And you need to work on your timing, because that would've sucked."

She laughed when he looked puzzledly up at her, unable to do anything else as the mirth made her whole body shake and her knees go weak. They'd made it.

A/N: I apologize at how unbeta'd this is, but I wanted to get it out before I had to run to work. Hope it was worth it!