Appeal to My Humanity

Disclaimer: None of this is owned by me, unfortunately. Just a creative outlet for a starry-eyed woman.

Chapter warning: Character death and blood. Lots of blood. And mind control.

Thanks so much to my beta Sam666 (samantha-shakespeare on Tumblr). You guys would have to stumble through a lot of errors (a LOT of them) without her amazing help.

Chapter 15

Darcy was excited and bubbly through the flight, yelling, "Oh hell yes," when she saw that 'Mean Girls' was an in-flight movie option and startling Loki, Natasha, and Clint. She watched the movie happily, never catching that both Loki and Clint were keeping an eye on the screen for the duration of the film and both attempting to hide that they actually found it amusing. Before long they landed in New York City and were greeted immediately on the tarmac by an unmarked black van that quickly ushered to SHIELD headquarters.

Darcy didn't know what she'd expected when she came back to New York, but it wasn't the calm sense of normality that she was currently facing. There were no immediate signs that anything exciting was happening within the office: the guards were at their posts, agents made their way to their destinations with no more or less urgency than Darcy had come to expect, even the cleaning staff looked bored as usual. However, she sensed a shift – the demeanor of certain high-level agents gave the atmosphere the unmistakable flavor that something was about to happen. Something big.

She and Loki headed to their room to freshen up after the long flight and were instructed to head to the lab immediately after. Loki discreetly swept the room with his mind to check for bugs or other spying equipment and, determining that the room was clear, turned to Darcy when the door was shut.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, his green eyes boring into her own.

"Yes," she answered without hesitation.

Loki placed his hands on either side of her head and closed his eyes, concentrating. Darcy felt like warm, delicious sunshine was enveloping her body and when Loki was finished she felt as though she had just awoken from a particularly successful nap.

"That should help with the jet lag," he told her, concentrating on refreshing his clothing. Darcy blinked a couple of times and stretched.

"You should bottle that... whatever it was. You'd make a killing. Can you imagine never having jet lag again? You should use your powers for good more often," she winked, picking up her luggage and hauling it into the bedroom, Loki staring after her and momentarily tasting her words.

Within moments she was ready to go. The pair set off together to the lab and, upon arriving, saw that the portal apparatus was set up in the corner, assembled and ready to go. The portal device had a large, circular platform and the center of the platform contained an upright rectangular frame, looking not unlike a door frame, with enough room for a person to comfortably walk through. They also found a very disheveled and excited-looking Jane Foster. Jane was standing at one of the tables in the room surrounded by people in black suits (Nick Fury included), using several charts and papers that were strewn across the table to make a point she was trying to explain to the group. They all collectively raised their heads at the sound of the pair's arrival and Jane's face lit up, making eye contact with Darcy and giving away just how thrilled she was with the maturation of the Bifrost project.

"These two," Jane started, "made all of it possible. Loki, Darcy, come meet the group."

Loki and Darcy shook everyone's hands and no one seemed phased by the fact that it was a previously-homicidal alien that was offering a firm grip and a cautious nod of greeting.

Jane explained, "I was just getting them all up to speed on the minutiae of the Bifrost project-"

"- And my colleagues here were just leaving, actually," Nick Fury interjected. The suits in the room left with no hesitation and Nick remained to speak to Loki and Darcy.

"I trust you had a relaxing vacation," said Nick, continuing before Darcy could complain about it being cut too short. Nick turned to Loki. "Dr. Foster here wants to go over some final numbers with you while we wait for Mr. Stark to grace us with a power source," and then turned to face Darcy, "And I'd like to speak with you in my office."

Darcy and Loki exchanged a quick glance before she followed Nick out of the lab and up to his office. The silent walk was torture for her and seemed to drag on forever. Darcy couldn't tell if Nick was going to pry, be angry, or worse- ask her about Loki's returned powers. She didn't know how Nick would have found out, but she wouldn't put it past him to already have discovered their secret. The man was impossible to read.

When they finally arrived at Nick's office, Darcy took a seat and heard the Director close the door before taking a seat himself.

"Is there... anything you wish to discuss, Miss Lewis? Any recent developments with Loki?" he asked and Darcy's blood ran cold.

Oh Jesus, he knows Darcy thought, all the while maintaining an unflinching demeanor of calm.

"Developments?" Darcy asked nonchalantly. After an awkward pause she hurriedly continued, "Like, with his habits, or his demeanor?"

"You said you thought you could 'rehabilitate' him, didn't you? That was the development to which I was referring," Nick answered, giving her a puzzled look, "Unless of course there have been... other... developments, which I would definitely want to know about."

"Oh, the whole 'rehabilitation' thing," Darcy laughed, glossing over the fact that she practically just gave away her game. "Well, he hasn't gotten any worse," she blurted out, then quickly attempted to recover, "What I mean is, his temperament has been very even with everyone and even with Agents Romanov and Barton he was pretty pleasant. He didn't get into any wacky adventures or make any escape attempts and seemed genuinely interested in the local culture," she added.

Nick regarded her silently for a moment. "Have you given any thought to where, exactly, your... relationship is going?"

Darcy pursed her lips, feeling slightly awkward about talking about her relationship with the Director. "We've discussed it and we've decided to continue on together."

"That's good to hear. Miss Lewis, I was hoping you would agree to join in on our mission to Asgard as Loki's..."

"Plus-one?" Darcy offered. Nick nodded a head in agreement with a quick smile. "And 'our mission'? Who all's going?"

"All of the important people. The members of the Avengers Initiative will be present since they're very familiar to Thor; I will lead the mission and some key representatives of the upper echelons of the world will be present as well. And you, of course," Nick added.

"I was already planning on going, but sure, thanks for the invite," Darcy informed him with a brilliant smile.

The Director's stony eye showed a hint of amusement. "Thank you for your time. Now I believe Dr. Foster is in need of your assistance," he told her. Darcy rose and made her way back to the lab to find Loki and Jane discussing the latest development in her research. It was odd to see the two of them getting along; Loki seemed to genuinely excited about the breakthrough in their research.

Darcy went straight for her desk and began inputting data. Although they had only been gone a few days, Jane had generated what seemed like weeks' worth of data. After an hour or so Loki and Darcy left for lunch, and when they came back Jane was calling it a day.

"We have everything ready to go at this point, just waiting on Stark," Jane said, the anxiety practically palpable in her voice.

"Natasha was saying it should only be a few days, if that. Jane, I think it's a good idea for you to go home and get some rest. You're going to need it so you and Thor will have the energy to, you know-" Darcy was saying, but closed her mouth after getting a sharp look from Jane and a look of apparent disgust from Loki. She gave the two a huge grin instead of continuing her innuendo.

Loki and Darcy decided to call it quits as well and headed for Loki's quarters. The Boondock Saints, chow mein, and conversation took up their evening before drifting off to sleep in one another's arms.

x

X

x

The next morning Darcy awoke to the abrasive screech of her cell phone's ringing. Bleary-eyed, she put on her glasses and checked the time before answering – 5:30 AM. Jane's smiling face showed on the screen to identify the caller.

"Hm?" Darcy mumbled after hitting the 'answer' button and lazily bringing the phone up to her ear.

"You and Loki have got to get down here! Stark-is-done-with-the-arc-reactor!" exclaimed Jane, so excited that her words ran together and Darcy had to think on them for a moment to really understand what Jane had said.

"Okay, be there in a minute," she replied before hanging up. She turned to Loki who was sprawled lazily across the other half of the bed and gave him a nudge with her arm. "Wake up babe, time to get up. It's showtime."

Loki grunted and to Darcy's surprise actually opened his eyes. He took in a deep breath and immediately rose from bed.

"I'm going to need a little of whatever the hell you took; I can't be that awake this early," she mumbled, turning on the light and propping herself up.

"I'm going home," Loki responded groggily, "and I'd love for you to come with me if you'd still like to," he added. He turned to her, his hair mussed, with a look that Darcy couldn't quite read.

Darcy was suddenly wide awake with excitement. "Go to an alien planet with my royal boyfriend or stay here and catch up on inputting data? Hell yes I'd still like to," she smiled, getting out of bed herself. "Race ya to the shower."

The two showered in record time and Darcy put some thought into what she'd like to wear for her first visit to Loki's home world. She decided that it was much too early to go for heels and a skirt, opting instead for some pretty flats, very nice dark jeans, and a beautiful, tasteful top. As much as she wanted to wear a pretty dress, she also wanted to avoid giving the impression that she was a delicate flower, choosing rather to exude an air of confidence and intelligence. Loki was in his full regalia, including his golden armor (sans helmet) that he had to conjure because he hadn't had it when he arrived on Earth.

"I'm feeling way under-dressed when I compare myself to you," Darcy admitted, taking in his intricate ensemble. She fiddled with the Time Gem that adorned her neck.

"You look breathtaking, my dear," Loki told her, giving her a smoldering look that made her slightly weak in the knees.

"That's not fair, you can't give me a look like that and expect me not to rip all of that armor off of you," Darcy teased. Loki flashed her a grin that did wicked things to her, but left her wanting by opening the front door instead of giving in to desire.

"After you, darling."

"Tease."

The two walked at a quick pace in silence to the lab, finding it full of people – some she had seen before, many others she had not. Jane's face lit up as she saw them approach and the pair were given nods of greeting by Nick Fury, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov, and Clint Barton. It was clear that SHIELD wanted the full team in tow when they made formal interplanetary contact while delivering the prince back home.

Tony gave Jane a nod. "Are we ready?"

Darcy squeezed Loki's hand and he gave a return squeeze, his face unreadable. The room was deathly silent as the machine powered on, giving off a low rumble that turned into a steadier rhythm. Slowly the center of the machine began to appear opaque with white energy and eventually became solid white. Darcy took in a sharp breath as an image materialized in the center of the portal, and she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. She could make out the shimmering Rainbow Bridge and, if she wasn't mistaken, the body of a huge man in golden armor sprawled atop it. Large mounds of grayish bodies lay around him in piles; the bodies that still had attached limbs held them in sickening, unmoving angles. Darcy glanced nervously up at Loki who was pale as a ghost, his eyes wide in shock and horror.

Everyone in the room looked up in unison when the lights in the room flickered and dimmed.

"Uh oh," said Tony. His voice was barely audible over the sound of the machine, but everyone near him could hear the apprehension in his voice.

"What's 'uh oh'?" Jane asked, the panic in her voice revealed that she really didn't want to know the answer.

"It can't sustain the stream of energy," Tony explained, and the group could hear a loud bang come from somewhere underneath them in the building. "That would be the reactor. We've got about five seconds."

"Shit," Nick Fury said.

"No!" Jane breathed at the same time. "No, no, nonononono..."

Darcy felt Loki tug on her hand as he dragged her toward the portal.

"No!" Nick shouted before she and Loki jumped through the portal. She felt like a massive weight was on her chest and the journey was over as quickly as it began – Darcy was astonished to be standing on the broken Rainbow Bridge. The sight of the translucent, almost glass-like appearance with its myriad integrated colors alone was enough to take her breath away before she remembered the horror that they saw through the portal.

Loki was by Heimdall's side immediately. The look on his face confirmed that the guardian was indeed slain as Loki reached down to check his pulse. Darcy noted in the back of her mind that not a single greyish alien twitched – the golden warrior had taken down no less than a thousand henchmen and not a single one had had a shred of a chance of surviving a dance with Heimdall's blade.

"Darcy," Loki breathed, his voice as close to frantic as she had ever heard, "stay close to me. We must make our way to the palace and there will be danger along the way. These beings are called the Chitauri, they are the peons I used to help dominate Midgard so very long ago. If I am correct, they will be led by the Mad Titan – he is insane, Darcy. Insane. He has done monstrous things to his friends and family, and even worse to his enemies. We must strive to keep our wits about us."

She nodded in response and the pair made their way on foot to the beginning of the bridge. They hadn't seen any more Chitauri bodies until they reached the outskirts of the town surrounding the castle. Villagers and invaders alike were dead or dying everywhere. The Aesir had been ready for an attack, but the invaders vastly outnumbered the townspeople. The man that led the attack had known the odds, obstacles, and layout of the location.

Loki walked over corpses, glancing back occasionally at Darcy to ensure that she was still behind him. Darcy fought the urge to rush to help the dying – the pair had to keep moving.

Along the way through the lower courtyards of the castle, the piles of dead rose steadily: there had been a great effort to protect the castle and Darcy and Loki could hear the faint noise of sword-fight inside of the palace walls.

Loki stopped suddenly and Darcy very nearly ran straight into his back. He turned on one heel and kissed her suddenly, claiming her mouth for his own and taking her breath away.

"I will not leave you," he breathed, breaking the kiss, "but I cannot pretend we may not be separated. This is for you."

Loki closed his eyes in concentration and Darcy suddenly felt slightly heavier. She looked down at her body to find that she was covered head-to-toe in armor and dark, almost-black leather. A silver breastplate adorned her torso while heavy silver pauldrons, vambraces, and greaves protected her limbs. Her dark leather tunic hid the Time Gem from sight and held the jewel firmly to her chest. The dark leather pants and heavy leather boots completed the fighter ensemble, and Darcy looked back up at Loki.

"I look like a badass!" she grinned for only a moment before sobering, remembering that it wasn't Halloween that called for the gear but rather a much more grim situation.

"Last but not least," Loki said absentmindedly, closing his eyes again in concentration as his golden-horned helmet shimmered instantly into place. Darcy felt her hair parting on its own and in the next moment a silver helmet sat comfortably atop her head, adorned with the metallic impression of a ram's curled horns. A short sword appeared in her hand which she assessed by passing it from left to right before settling on a comfortable holding position, following this, a small shield began appearing in her other hand.

"You will tire easily if you must use these tools, and I pray that you will not need to. Stay low, remain unseen," Loki advised, and lowered his voice after he heard shouts from the castle that were closer to the pair than before. "Conserve your energy. We will find safety for you inside; nowhere outside of Castle Asgard is safe."

Darcy took in a deep breath and teared up slightly. "You better not die, Loki. Or I'll kill you."

The god of mischief gave her a small smile. "Let us away," he told her softly and turned, heading to the castle at a quick pace, staying close to walls and crouching under low windows. Darcy moved surprisingly silently in the unfamiliar armor and to her dismay she found that Loki had been right- the sword and shield were already tiring her. She vowed silently to herself to focus on strength training when this was all over.

The pair moved quickly up the palace steps where they came upon one of the Aesir that Darcy was startled find that she actually recognized: the Robin Hood-esque man, dashing as he was, was in the throes of a heated battle with three Chitauri. Loki quickly stepped in to assist, throwing a doppelganger ahead of him to distract one while taking down another with a swift flick from a dagger that Darcy hadn't even known he was carrying. The other Asgardian took down one Chitauri henchman and the pair dispatched the remaining invader together before Robin Hood turned his sword on Loki.

"I might have known it was you behind this. You had us all fooled with Thanos as a distraction, Laufeyson," the man sneered, raising his sword to Loki's throat. Loki opened his mouth to retort only to be cut off by Darcy.

"Hey!" she shouted, jumping in front of Loki and simultaneously startling the blonde man.

"My lady," the man sputtered, lowering his weapon, "has he hurt you? Come with me; we shall get you to safety-"

"I'm here willingly and we're both here to help. We were coming here to return Loki home when we found this mess waiting for us. I don't know what a Thanos is, but Loki has nothing to do with whatever the hell's going on around here. Now I suggest you back off," Darcy commanded, raising her sword to the man.

The bewildered Asgardian blinked at the petite brunette brandishing her sword at him (holding it completely incorrectly) before bursting into peals of laughter. She heard Loki snickering behind her as well, and she lowered her sword. She turned to Loki, her hand on her hip, giving him a death glare.

"Darcy, this is Fandral; Fandral, Darcy. And I do believe this is the first time a woman has told him to 'back off' with such vigor," Loki informed her, the amusement shining in his eyes.

"Well, a woman who wasn't Sif," Fandral agreed.

"We've actually met before," she told Loki, glancing sideways at Fandral, "in New Mexico. You remember that one, right, Loki? When you sent a big fucking robot to kill Thor, and this guy," she jerked a thumb toward Fandral, "had to come defend us? Anything coming to mind, dear?"

The smile bolted from Loki as Fandral's lit up with recognition.

"Yes indeed," he said, giving Darcy his full attention, "and might I say that Asgardian fashion becomes you, Lady Darcy," Fandral purred, but Darcy was having none of it.

"Much as I'd love to get to know everyone around here, don't we have a palace to save?" she asked pointedly.

With that the conversation ceased instantly and Fandral fell in step beside the pair with Darcy in between her tall bodyguards. Occasionally a grey Chitauri Warrior would come out at them from the halls and one or both would take them out easily. The noise of a fight got closer with every step and soon they entered what could only be a throne room, and the situation didn't look promising. While almost every no-name henchman was dead, there were hundreds of Asgardian warriors slain as well. The center of the room was dominated by an epic battle between Thor, Sif, Hogun, Volstagg, and a gigantic purple man.

"I'm guessing that's a Thanos," Darcy muttered under her breath.

"Stay here," Loki and Fandral told Darcy in unison, running to join the battle.

Darcy took careful watch of her surroundings and noticed an older woman locked in a private battle with one of the last remaining Chitauri, and the woman was clearly on the losing end. Darcy rushed to the woman and, with the Chitauri's back to her, Darcy steeled herself momentarily before swiftly plunging her sword through his back. His flesh gave with a sickening silence and Darcy left her sword in him, taking one step back from the body. She quickly looked to the woman.

"Are you okay?"

The woman looked at Darcy, her mouth poised to express thanks when she looked fully upon Darcy's face for the first time. Darcy sensed recognition in the woman's expression and suddenly the woman was looking wildly about an attempt to find someone else.

Find someone she did.

Her eyes fell to Loki and shone with tears, pure joy and relief written on her face. The woman quickly turned her attention back to Darcy who was astonished to be pulled in for an embrace.
"It's so good to see you," she told Darcy, "Let us remain here. Our fine warriors will make quick work of this foe."
Curiouser and curiouser, Darcy thought to herself. With no small amount of squeamishness she pulled her blade from the body of the attacker and backed away with the woman to a nearby wall with a good view that was also easily defensible. Darcy kept a wary eye out for immediate threats near herself and the woman, but an even closer eye was kept on Loki and his allies.

Volstagg had fallen in the time in which Darcy was saving the woman, but the Warriors fought on against Thanos. The huge purple man kept yelling the same thing over and over to everyone and no one in particular: "The gauntlet! I must have the gauntlet!"

"Let him not near the vault," Thor commanded, but Thanos was proving to be too much for the five remaining warriors. Thanos' magic was powerful and he was throwing everything he had at them. Flames erupted from his hands, and if Loki's frost spell hadn't countered it, Hogun and Sif would not have stood a chance. The mad titan summoned a ball of energy that took a ghostly form of a ferocious beast the likes of which Darcy had never seen; with the silent command the beast took down Fandral but was soon slain by Thor. Loki fell in line beside Thor and they caught one another's eyes. While Loki's face remained stony and Thor's remained grim for his fallen comrades, Thor was clearly pleased to be fighting by his brother's side once more.

Sif lunged at the titan's back, leaving a great gash in his armor and soon silver blood was beginning to seep through. Thanos roared with rage and pain, thrashing, and knocked Sif across the room into a wall. She crumpled to the ground and did not rise again. Thanos left maniacally, waving his hands, and suddenly flashes of light, brighter than the sun, went off with loud pops all over the throne room. All were temporarily blinded, and when their vision return the titan had escaped.

"Quick! To the vault!" Loki called to the warriors as they rushed out of the room. Darcy and the woman she rescued followed closely behind, heading down a flight of massive stone steps and through a darkened corridor. Asgardian guards lay dead or dying and the woman stayed behind to tend to the wounded.

"You must join them, Lady Darcy," the woman told her, a hint of sadness peppering her tone. Darcy gave a quick nod and rushed ahead, adrenaline pumping -

-Just in time to see Thanos lowering the golden Infinity Gauntlet onto his hand.

Three glowing stones shown in the light on the knuckles of the gauntlet, but the expression on Loki's face was what made Darcy's blood run cold. The sheer horror at what he was seeing made his eyes round as saucers.

The titan activated the red Power Gem in the gauntlet, granting himself immense physical strength and made his way to the other side of the vault. Thor's, Loki's, and Hogun's hits landed on Thanos but the titan only laughed at their efforts, brushing their attempts away as though they were merely feathers landing on him. The madman made it to his destination, the Mind Gem awaiting him. He plucked it easily from its case, placing it with its sisters, and turned to Thor.

"Your Majesty," Thanos smiled cruelly, "kill your friend."

The Mind Gem glowed blue, and without hesitation Thor launched Mjolnir at Hogun, breaking his neck. The warrior fell to the ground with a dull thud.

Thanos used the Mind Gem to keep Thor standing still, allowing Thor only to watch the events unfolding around him in the room with no ability to act on them. Two large tears rolled down Thor's cheeks, but Mjolnir was at the ready, waiting for Thanos to let down his guard.

"And you," Thanos growled, turning to Loki, "you-"

"No!" Darcy shouted, and stood frozen in fear when the titan stopped and turned his full gaze to her. The purple Space Gem activated and he teleported to her, startling her. She took an instinctive step backwards and her heel hit the wall behind her. So frightened was she that she could only look at the tyrant above her.

"This one is yours?" He called to Loki, who had already almost reached them. Thanos used the Mind Gem to freeze him in place. "Let's take a look at the prince's prize, shall we?"

The green Soul Gem on the gauntlet activated and Thanos peered into Darcy's very soul, reading her, assessing her.

"This is not what I expected," Thanos said aloud to himself. "Loyal. Brave. Good," Thanos spat, "with a pure heart. The Jotun bastard's pet will suffer indeed," he called out to the room, his voice echoing from high walls. Thanos let out a maddening bark of laughter as a jagged, icy short sword appeared in his free hand. He flexed the fingers on his gauntleted hand and then conjured green flames from his frozen weapon. He drew his arm backward and plunged the icy sword forward, directly toward Darcy's chest.

Instantly several things happened at once: Darcy let out a scream of terror, Loki and Thor let out roars of rage, and the orange Time Gem around Darcy's neck glowed and the very sands of time stopped for Darcy's will.

She stared wide-eyed at the surreal scene before her, barely registering the sharp pain in her chest. She looked down slowly and to her horror found that the point of Thanos' sword had broken the skin and she was pinned to the wall in her own time-frozen Hell.

Darcy gave out animalistic scream of pain and frustration.

"I actually got the damn thing to work and I can't even get out of the way," she said aloud, shuddering, almost laughing at her predicament while tears streamed down her face.

She looked at Loki's frozen form and she felt her heart breaking. His beautiful frozen face held anguish, rage, and desperation for her. Thor's held sorrow, and Thanos' was nothing but the purest hatred. She sobbed and dropped her sword and shield in exhaustion.

She stared numbly at the room before her - she couldn't believe that this is how was going to end. The hatred, pain, and sorrow engulfed her when suddenly an idea struck her like a bolt of lightning. Darcy looked immediately to the gauntlet on Thanos' hand-the one that wasn't currently plunging a frozen, flaming sword into her chest. She reached out to it, her index and middle fingers barely able to brush it. The farther she reached, the more the stinging blade pressed into her chest. She cried aloud as she reached, her fingers gaining purchase on the gauntlet. She took one more deep breath, steeled herself for the blow, and leaned forward, slipping the gauntlet away from Thanos' hand with her two fingers.

Darcy felt the blood begin to pour from her chest as she eased the stolen relic away from the titan's hand -

- and watched in horror and disbelief as the slick metal gauntlet slipped from her fingers and clattered to the floor at her feet.

Darcy stared down at the shiny metal gauntlet on the cold stone floor. She could feel her hot blood pooling underneath her tunic and armor, running down her legs - she was exhausted from adrenaline and blood loss. She saw the blackness of unconsciousness creeping in at the edge of her vision and knew that her time had come.

With the last of her energy she kicked the gauntlet as hard as she could. She watched it shoot between Thanos' feet and land at Thor's. Satisfied with her last act in life, she finally allowed herself to succumb to death.

x

X

x

One moment the titan was raising the sword at his love, and before Loki could blink Darcy was already slumped over and gone quickly – too quickly. He felt like his brain was imploding; loss, anguish, panic, and confusion all bombarded his senses while in the back of his mind he realized that the Time Gem must have activated.

The moment he realized he was able to move again was the same moment that Thanos realized that he no longer had possession of the golden gauntlet.

He pulled his sword from Darcy's body and she dropped to the floor with a thud. He turned on one heel, sword dripping with Darcy's blood, and barreled toward the brothers. Thor launched Mjolinr at the titan, scooping up the gauntlet from the floor while the hammer knocked Thanos into a wall. Loki simply stood in place, watching Darcy's unmoving body while a chill of numbness flooded over his body. Without thinking, he grabbed the nearest relic in the vault: the Casket of Ancient Winters. He turned to the titan and without a word he opened the casket, unleashing the power contained within at full-force. Thanos was struck with great power shooting him so hard across the room that he broke through the vault wall and fell down the long drop outside. Loki threw down the casket and rushed to Darcy, clutching her, tears streaming down his face. Thor approached Loki from behind, standing, unknowing exactly how to say what he had to say.

"Loki," Thor started, but his brother would not be consoled. He held Darcy's body closer, sobbing, his body ached with his wracking cries.

"Loki," Thor repeated.

"Please leave me with my grief, Thor," Loki breathed, his back to his brother.

Thor slipped the Infinity Gauntlet onto his left hand and activated the power of the Soul Gem, using its power to alter the state of Darcy's soul. Her eyes fluttered open and she coughed, sputtering, with tears in her eyes.

Loki worked quickly, casting silent healing spells and helping the gaping gash in Darcy's chest to heal and with his help she was whole within minutes. She kissed him swiftly, smiling, while Thor turned away momentarily in embarrassment at their intimacy. After Thor had given them a tasteful amount of time to reunite, he cleared his throat.

"Brother?"

"Busy, Thor."

"We have other wounded to revive," Thor reminded him.

"Go take care of business, babe," Darcy ordered. Loki arose reluctantly, holding a hand out to Darcy who took it and allowed him to help her to her feet. She walked with the brothers as they healed the Asgardians, one by one, until every fallen hero had been brought back with the power of the Soul Gem and Loki's healing. As each was healed, they too arose and joined Odin's sons party of onlookers, if only to greet people back to the world of the living. Heimdall was the last to be revived and awoke with practically the entire kingdom standing around him, so happy were they to see their brethren thrive and their enemy defeated. Heimdall stood and gave the crowd a look like he hadn't just been brought back from the dead, picking up his great golden sword and taking up the watch at his post once more.

All through the afternoon there was great feasting and celebration. It seemed as though everyone in the castle was elated to have been healed and pleasantly perplexed when they found that it was Loki of all people who had done the healing. It seemed like each new moment brought a new Asgardian that wanted to shake Loki's hand or clap Thor on the back, grateful to have a loved one returned. Meanwhile Darcy was being introduced to everyone and people were putting food and drink in her hand left and right; the whole situation was pleasurable and Darcy almost didn't notice the woman she had saved approaching her and Loki. Loki caught the woman's eye and smiled.

"Darcy, may I introduce my mother, Queen Frigga of Asgard," he said, and Darcy grinned at Frigga.

"Queen, huh?"

Frigga smiled at her. "We had so little time to become acquainted earlier. It is wonderful to see you under better circumstances," she told Darcy with a smile, taking her hand.

"Likewise," said Darcy with a return squeeze.

"Mother, might I interrupt you? I wish to give Lady Darcy a tour of the palace while the sun is setting," Loki requested, taking Darcy's arm.

"Of course, my son," Frigga acquiesced, giving him a knowing smile.

Loki escorted Darcy away from the noise of the celebration, through the immense halls of the palace, ending up on a great marble balcony that overlooked all of Asgard. The setting sun was breathtaking and Darcy stared at it with eyes that held renewed vigor for life, a renewed thirst for purpose.

It was the most beautiful sunset Darcy had ever beheld.

"Well, you're the hero of the house, Prince Loki," Darcy teased, leaning on the large marble railing and keeping her eyes on the horizon, not looking at Loki.

"Do you wish to become a princess?" she heard him ask softly. Darcy turned around in confusion to find Loki on one knee, a stunning emerald ring in his hand. "You were by my side when I hadn't a friend in the universe. When I showed you cruelty, you returned only compassion. My life was not whole until first we met and when I thought I lost you today I knew that without you it would never be whole again. Darcy Lewis, will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?"

"Yes!" Darcy blurted out, "Yes I will marry you," she grinned, tears forming in her eyes.

Loki let out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding and slipped the ring onto her left hand with shaky fingers. The pair kissed as the last light of day fled the sky, the cool night ushering in their new lives together.

Neither had ever slept as well as they did that night, knowing that, for now, all was right with the world.

The End.

I had an absolute blast writing this story. My readers have been so encouraging and amazing; your words fueled the fire that kept this story going. When I was first starting out on shaky legs, afraid of the reception this story would get or how effing awful my writing would be, you guys did nothing but encourage me. Without your tips, constructive criticism, and kind (too kind) words I wouldn't have kept this going.

I can't thank you all enough for taking the time to read – you guys rock!

Follow me on Tumblr for fic updates, new story notifications, and general musings. My username is JessiokaFroka.