Inn Mistaka

The title = Old Norse for The Mistake.

This story basically comes from two things, when watching Thor The Dark World, I couldn't help but wonder 'What if Darcy got possessed by The Aether and not Jane?' Also, this is the second movie with both Darcy and Loki in and yet they have still never been in ONE scene together. I decided to take that into my own hands...

My writing style is a little different in this fic than my previous ones. I wanted to keep in with the pace and style of the movie but also not repeat everything that happened just from Darcy's POV. Hopefully you have all seen the movie and will be able to understand what is happening and 'fill in the gaps' of scenes I've left out for the narratives sake. I'm not 100% comfortable writing this way but I honestly couldn't think of another way to stay true to the movie and what I want to do without writing it like this.

Un-BETA'd so all mistakes are mine, please feel free to point them out and I will fix them :-)

So, I hope you enjoy reading this and please review!

Thank you.

Inn Mistaka

Xxxxxx

Darcy hadn't meant to walk away from Jane and Ian, she really didn't mean to but when Ian refused to give her his shoe and Jane had started writing down information from the bleepy box Darcy got bored pretty quickly.

She had to admit, she felt like a female Sherlock Holmes, wondering around London investigating things. It was pretty awesome. She was almost considering buying a deerstalker hat, they have them everywhere in London right? When suddenly her feet slipped on some dead leaves. Or at least that's what she thought had happened. Her navel began to twist and she felt herself being pulled along the abandoned corridor and she soon realised this wasn't right...

She thought she screamed for Jane but wasn't sure and as she blinked against the wind one second in a dull dirty grey building and the next she was in a dark ... cave?

"Jane?" She called out now her feet were firmly on the ground. Looking around all she saw was rock and a large pit below the ledge she was standing on. "Jane?" Darcy repeated, meeker than before. She knew the other woman obviously wasn't here, wherever 'here' was. "Totally not freaking out." Darcy muttered to herself, trying to stay calm and she pursed her lips.

"Bloody London, with their bloody law against 'tasers and concealed weapons'." Her British accent was pretty bad as she imitated the SHIELD agent who confiscated her taser as she got into Heathrow airport, but she was seriously wishing she had it with her right now as she slowly looked around the cave she was stranded in.

"Okay, you can do this. It's just a cave. Nothing scary or weird going on in the cave... Nothing creepy ever happens in caves…" Darcy tried to convince herself, who was she fooling? She paused as she slowly spun 180 degrees from where she initially landed. "Nothing scary except the big blocks with the scary red glowy centre." She didn't know what to make of the two huge blocks of stone sitting on top of each other, the only thing keeping them separated and defying gravity was a crimson light in-between. A light Darcy had no intention of going near or touching... Nope, she'd seen enough movies to know that was a mistake waiting to happen.

After about two minutes of surveying the area and a few minutes of trying to see if her iPhone worked, it didn't, Darcy was getting pretty bored and frustrated. She glared at the glowing red light, narrowing her eyes at the slit and sighed. She was going to have to get closer to it, wasn't she? She really had nothing else to do and Jane obviously wasn't going to find her.

"I got a bad feeling about this..." She said to herself, wishing someone else was around to understand her sense of humour. But there wasn't. So she just sucked it up, held her breath and stuck her hand in the gap. "Fuck fuck fuck..." Her small but panicked voice said as she watched the red light move like a floating liquid and grab her. She pulled her arm out but the light had already gone from the stones as they smashed together, cracks forming at the force. Whatever it was now hummed under her skin. "Shit, I immediately regret this! That was so stupid. Fuck, that was so stupid!" She stared wide eyed at her forearm, was it is just her or was something glowing? Shit! Practically clawing at her skin she was freaking out until her legs went weak and her knees hit the floor.

The next thing she knew Jane was by her side in the dark cave, grabbing her by the shoulders and ushering her towards the edge of the ledge where she'd arrived.

"Jane! Are you insane!?" She cried, forgetting about everything as she tried to pull Jane away from falling to certain death.

"Darcy, this is how we get back, trust me." Darcy froze, staring at the older woman whose eyes were pleading with her. "Here, look." Jane let go of one of Darcy's arms and bent her leg up to take off her shoe before throwing it off the edge of the cliff-like path they stood on. It plopped out of sight half a second later, like the bottle of drink had earlier. Darcy nodded slowly and held her breath, understanding. They both stepped of the ledge with caution and what felt like a blink later they were back in the same corridor Darcy had disappeared from. Only it was much less abandoned now.

Ian was standing not far away, holding one end of a car jump cable and Darcy suddenly realised the other end was wrapped around Jane's small waist. Darcy let out the breath she was holding and hugged Jane.

"Thank Thor you come looking for me!" She joked. "That was the most weird-ass ten minutes of my life, and that's including fire breathing robots." Jane's worried expression did nothing to calm the adrenaline. "What?"

"Darcy, you were gone five hours." Concern in her voice told Darcy she wasn't kidding.

"Five hours? That- That can't be right. It felt like minutes." Darcy looked around at Ian, shaking her head at them. He grimaced but nodded.

"That's not good, is it?" Darcy wasn't sure who she was asking.

They started to head back to Jane's mothers flat that they were using as Mrs Foster cruised around the Med. Darcy thanked her luck as it started to rain, she was starting to shake now, not sure if it was from the cold or the strange little adventure she just had. Darcy tried to explain what had happened when Jane caught a flash of red cape and ran off.

Looks like Thor was back, Darcy mused to herself with a smile as she held Ian back with a stern look. Jane and Thor needed a moment to say hello, to get reacquainted, she grinned. After a minute Darcy saw Jane smack him twice and decided that was enough of a moment for them before she jogged over to interrupt.

"Hey! It's great to see you, how's space?" Darcy asked with a smile.

"Space is fine. Lady Darcy, Jane has informed me of both your absences from this world, I came as soon as I could."

"Were you spying on us?" She teased with a smirk.

"Darcy, this isn't time to joke around, you were gone for hours, who knows where!"

"It is true, you were beyond even Heimdall's vision." Thor rested his hand on her shoulder, his voice grave.

"Haagen Dazs' vision? What's that?" Jane didn't look impressed but Darcy liked it when Thor made his confused puppy face.

"Heimdall, he oversees the Bi-Frost. It can only mean bad things if you were shielded from his gaze."

"O-kay..." She said slowly. "Well, we're back now. No harm done. Can't we just go home and look at the data Jane got?"

"Darcy, what you were telling me, that red glowing substance? It doesn't sound good. I think we should take you to a hospital, get some tests run." Jane volunteered.

"Woah now, my insurance barely covers me back home, I can't afford to go to the freakin' hospital in another country! Come on, I feel fine. Not a scratch on me!" She exclaimed.

Thor reached out to touch her again but she shook out of his grasp. "No, I just want to go home and have a bath and you two probably have load of catching up to do." Darcy winked at them. "So let's scoot." Thor didn't look impressed at her suggested.

"Darcy, I must pro-" Thor started.

Darcy's patience was wearing thin. "No!" She shouted when Thor tried to grab her arm again. She wasn't sure what happened next but a pulse passed through her and Thor was suddenly pushed back a few feet from her and Jane.

"Darcy." Jane said warningly.

"Don't!" Darcy said quickly, panicked. "I'm trying really hard not to totally freak out right now and if you say anything, I'm gonna start."

"Okay." Jane whispered. The older woman then held her hand and smiled supportively. Darcy gave a weak smile back as she looked down at their entwined hands. It definitely wasn't her eyes anymore, there was some red glow spiralling and twirling under her skin, like the red light in the cave.

"Jane. That red light, I think it's inside me." Darcy braced herself as she slowly spoke. She wasn't an idiot, even if she didn't know what this was, she knew that wasn't good.

Jane lifted their hands up closer to her face. Her eyes widened and she got that 'science' face.

"Fuck."

Yep, when Jane swears, she knew it was bad. Darcy thought bitterly as Thor walked warily back towards the two troubled women.

"Sorry!" Darcy weakly apologised to the Norse God she had managed to floor twice now.

Xxxxxx

And that's when Thor took them to Asgard. Not exactly what Darcy had planned for the day, which was basically 'find Jane, show her the bloopy bleeping science box, watch her as she investigated, then go home'. There was a new episode of that British gameshow she'd become addicted to called Pointless she was looking forward to watching, she always like it whenever categories like 'Film Actors' or 'Top 40 Songs' came up, yelling at the screen that she got this round, while Ian rolled his eyes and went back to asking a million questions she couldn't answer about the science stuff she gave him to convince him to become her intern for free.

But now she was standing on in golden globe having just travelled through space. Best laid plans… she supposed.

"We have to do that again!" Jane exclaimed, breathlessly.

They stood in awe of the dome shaped room.

"Welcome to Asgard, Doctor Foster, Miss Lewis." A dude dressed in awesome looking golden armour greeted once they'd found their footing.

"Hello?" Jane answered back.

"Man, you could have given me a bit of warning! Space Mountain has nothing on that!" Darcy said as she went and sat on a step that led up to the black guy with cool eyes. "Hey!" She called over her shoulder as she sat down. She wasn't sure if she imagined the small smile he gave her. She hoped not.

"Thor, I have alerted the healers."

"Good, we must make hast, I fear what may happen the longer we wait."

"Woah there, big guy. Give me a second to catch my breath. This is the third planet we've been on in the space of ten minutes, give us a moment to acclimate or whatever." Darcy said, lifting her hand to her head.

"I think we should go now Darcy, we don't know what this red substance is or how it could affect you-" Jane knelt down beside her, stroking her arm. Darcy knew Jane didn't do 'feelings' very well, her mind being so focused on science most of the time she forgot to eat and sleep, let alone think of other people's emotions, so her trying to soothe her like this meant she was making a huge effort.

"Fine." Darcy sighed, attempting to stand slowly. "Just because you wanna see more of Asgard, don't think I don't know you!" She nudged the older woman with her shoulder, smirking. The blush on Jane's face proved her right.

Xxxxxx

"So... This is home?" Darcy whistled as they walked along a huge corridor, gold walls with intricate engravings and ceiling so high she couldn't see what was on them.

"This is the palace, it is for appearance mostly. What I consider my home is on the lower levels, it is much less formal." Thor spoke as he walked them through a set of doors taller than most houses.

"Ah. I was gonna say, it's a bit showy... Too many pillars for my liking, I wouldn't have gone for more than two, maybe three hundred..." Darcy laughed when Jane scolded her with a look. She just shrugged one shoulder and mouthed "What?"

Thor and Jane left her while she laid on the table, probably to make-out she mused as she just watched the pretty lights above her. The healers didn't speak to her much when she asked them what things meant, mainly they told her to stay still. She frowned and tried to reach for the bright lights but throughout better of it, wasn't it touching shiny lights what got her into this mess in the first place?

So she decided to lay back and shut up. After all, she was probably the first human these people had met, she didn't want to make a bad impression.

Her eyes fluttered closed for a moment but snapped open when a set of doors slammed against the walls. The noise vibrated off every surface.

"Out!" The male voice commanded and Darcy sat up to see an old man in robes and armour walking purposefully across the room, Thor and Jane were following him, although Jane had taken to hiding behind Thor, not that Darcy blamed her. The dude with the eye patch was acting like a bossy dick, she decided as her eyes switched between the old guy and Thor. The healers had scattered although one remained, choosing to stand further away from the table than before.

"She is sick."

"She is mortal. Sickness is their defining quality." The older man threw back at Thor. "Her and that curious woman you are infatuated with are as welcome here as a goat at a banquet."

"Did he-?" Jane fumed.

"Yep. He did." Darcy confirmed, cutting her off, her patience running out quickly with this guy.

"Father, please just listen to what the healers say, you must understand that this isn't of their realm." Father? So this guy was Odin. Darcy should have really guessed from the one eye thing...

"Odin, it is true, this energy inside her, we are unsure of how long she can cope-" The healer spoke before he raised a hand to silence her.

"They have healers on Midgard, they are called doctors. They will deal with whatever ails her. Thor you cannot bring a Midgardians to Asgard just because she is your friend, it is reckless and irresponsible, and I had come to think better of you."

Darcy swung her legs over the edge of the table. Was he serious?

"Father, this is not of Earth. Their doctors will not be able to help."

"That's right! Whatever happened is unprecedented in Earth medicine. Your magic and knowledge are her only hope." Jane spoke up and Darcy felt like clapping at her friend standing up against her boyfriend's scary dad for her.

"One human is of no concern to me."

"Hey now! Aren't you supposed to be the protector of the eight realms or something? The All Father!" Darcy interjected, finally fed up of them talking about her as if she wasn't in the room and climbing down from the table to stand in front of Odin.

"Nine." Jane said quickly.

"What?"

"It's nine realms, not eight."

Darcy nodded at her friend before continuing. "Nine realms. Well listen, I live in one of those realms and I'm pretty sure this is some freaky shit from one of the other ones that's crawling around inside me, so you better start helping or shut up because that kind of negative attitude is not cool." Darcy was tempted to poke him in the chest, she knew the armour meant he wouldn't feel it and she was pretty sure he might just behead her because of the lack of respect. An idea bubbled up, she knew how to prove to Odin this wasn't just some 'human problem', and before she could really think it through it was too late. Darcy closed her eyes and pressed against the red she could feel inside, tentative at first, but she thought of Odin's dick-like behaviour and pushed the rage forward until she felt the familiar pulse from before. She opened her eyes to see Thor rushing over to Odin, who was now several feet further away from her than he was a second ago, and Jane ran up to her, grabbing her arms and ushering her to sit down on the edge of the table.

"I'm okay." She said weakly as she used the table and Jane to support her. "And if that doesn't convince you this isn't human, then I give up because I'm starting to like this 'having a superpower' thing." Darcy said with a smile, looking at her buzzing hands, the red glow was more prominent now and everyone was suddenly taking it more seriously. Good.

"The Aether." Odin said once he'd gotten closer to them again, Darcy almost felt guilty as the old man used a big gold stick to help him. "It seems the Aether has taken a vessel and is protecting itself."

"The Aether? What is that?" Jane asked.

"And I resent being called a 'vessel' thank you very much." Darcy gave a pointed look at Odin, it wasn't until she saw Thor's stiffness and grim face that she realised this was something he was familiar with, and it wasn't good.

"It's the stuff of stories. The scary stories you hear as a child..." Thor began to explain sorrowfully.

Odin led them to a study of sorts, showing them a book about the war with the Dark Elves and the powerful force known as The Aether which could plunge the universe back into darkness. Darcy stared at the moving pictures in the book, not really taking in everything they were saying. Feeling the redness inside her coiling as they spoke, like it understood more than she did. It was a bizarre feeling and Darcy had to bite the inside of her lip to stop herself from feeling overwhelmed and crying. Jane was asking all the right questions, how to get it out of her, who to buy time, who could help… While Darcy stood there feeling like a child at a parent-teacher conference. She absently ran her hand over the picture of a man who was darkening the golden streaks of light on the page. A Dark Elf, she corrected herself.

"Malekith." A voice hissed in her head.

"This book is awesome. Like Harry Potter." She said after Jane asked her how she felt. Thor coughed uncomfortably, clearly not happy that she had trivialised some ancient text with a Midgardian reference, but pop culture references made her feel better and right now she needed something familiar. "What happened to your eye?"

"Oh god!" Jane groaned and Darcy just plastered a sweet smile on, pretending everything was fine.

Xxxxxx

"Lady Darcy, I presume?" A lovely woman with the longest hair Darcy had ever seen walked onto the balcony she stood on.

"You presume right. And, sorry, you are?"

"I am Frigga." Her soft voice was so elegant, she imagined this was what meeting someone royal would be like. It suddenly clicked.

"Oh! You're Thor's mother. It's an honour to meet you, you're like the queen right? Do I call you Ma'am as in ham or Ma'am is in farm?" Darcy hid a wince behind a smile as she started to ramble.

"Frigga is fine, and the honour is all mine, Lady Darcy." She calmed Darcy's rambling with a smile and motioned towards a set of chairs set out to admire the view.

"Darcy's cool."

"Darcy." The older woman acknowledged her with a smile. "How are you finding your time on Asgard so far?"

Darcy gawked and turned between the amazing view of the vast shining rivers and golden buildings. "Are you kidding me, it's gorgeous! Everyone's been super nice as well, well except Odin." Darcy gave a slight snort and covered one eye with her hand until she realised her mistake. "Oh god! I totally didn't mean that. I knew he as your husband as well, I don't know why I did that. I'm so sorry." She started spluttering out, looking around to see if any guards were approaching her to cut off her head or something.

"It is quite alright." Frigga patted Darcy's frantic hands. She looked almost amused at her mistake. "I am used to his harshness. They say opposites attract after all, where he is cruel, I aim to be a balm. Where he is wrong, I am most often than not, right." There as a glint in her eye that told Darcy she was making a joke. She grinned at the implication, trying to imagine them as an old married couple rather than King and Queen of Asgard.

"Wow. Thank you. I'm sorry, it's been a bit of a weird day."

"Rather an understatement. You are coping incredibly well with this ordeal, it is a testament to your strong will."

"I dunno. I barely know what's going on."

"That will come with time. You are young and mistakes are to be made, the price for wisdom."

"I bet you have lots of wisdom to share." Darcy nudged with a smirk. "Come on, spill. What advice can you give an aimless, awkward, inappropriate human like me?" She honestly didn't expect an answer, but Frigga took her hands in her own again, the Queen's skin was soft but firm. Darcy watched as she closed her eyes for a moment and took a purposeful breath in. She paused and smiled before speaking.

"You are a strong woman, Darcy. You are impulsive, which is not always a bad thing, you follow your instincts and they have not let you down yet." Darcy was tempted to disagree but Frigga continued, opening her eyes to look at the younger woman. "I learnt when I was around your age, that following your instincts is more true to yourself than what your brain tells you is right."

"That doesn't sound like a proper response from a queen." Darcy smirked, knowing there was a story behind that piece of advice.

"How do you think I married a king?" The smirk was back and Darcy just sat there, dumbfounded as she stared at the older woman.

"Okay, its official. You are the coolest woman I've ever met."

"That is very kind, thank you. You are also very remarkable, I just wish I could spend more time getting to know you and Jane. You are both such extraordinary women." Her tone was musical yet there was a hint of melancholy Darcy didn't fully understand. She was hardly worth the appreciation of the Queen of Asgard, sure Jane was important, she was her son's girlfriend… But her? She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Frigga left a moment later, hugging Darcy and promising to see her again after dinner.

Darcy stared at the hand maids who brought clothes for her to change into, she just thanked them and ignored the expensive looking fabric before heading down to dinner in her jumper, leggings and boots.

Xxxxxx

Seeing Sif and two of The Warriors again was a brilliant way for Darcy to take her mind off The Aether that currently curled away under her skin.

"Lady Darcy! It brings me great joy to see you again!" Sif greeted after a hug. She was as stunning as ever, looking more badass than Zena with her armour and weapons and suddenly Darcy felt guilty she hadn't been to the gym in ages.

"It's great to see you too, even under such unexpected circumstances. It was about time you invited us for dinner." Darcy teased as they sat around a giant banquet table, covered in food that Darcy had only ever seen in movies.

Fandral was as charming as ever, kissing her hand and smiling broadly at everything she said, his compliments and their flirting together made it easy to momentarily forget about the force possessing her.

The moment did not last long however when Frigga and Jane rushed in and collected Darcy while the others went off to stop a break out in the palaces underground prisons.

Darcy had barely a minute for Jane to explain a plan Frigga had told her. They hid in a secret room off Frigga and Odin's private area and waited for the signal that it was safe for them to come out. The signal never came and they crept out after hearing Thor's cries, both knowing something was wrong.

Darcy covered her mouth as she gasped. Frigga was dead. She died protecting her.

It was all her fault...

Darcy was given a stunning room to rest the night in. She cried herself to sleep and dreamed of darkness.

Xxxxxx

Darcy was locked away in the room the next day. She didn't care about the guards outside blocking her exit, she had no intention to leave and face the people whose Queen was dead because of her. Granted, it was boring in the room, after an hour of looking at all the strange alien decorations, nothing more interesting than small boxes and books she couldn't read, but it was better than facing a mourning kingdom. She decided her missed her laptop. Tumblr would totally have helped keep the boredom at bay.

Asgard was gorgeous though, she doubted anyone to deny it. With its grand shining buildings and vast pristine lakes it was a both Viking-esque and futuristic and Darcy loved it. Just like she imagined it, she smiled to herself, not quite believing she was actually there. That this was real.

She stood on a balcony, admiring the way the sky caused the buildings to glow and trees to sing with beauty when she felt her eyes drawn to something. A small dot formed and pulsed, red expanding through the clouds, taking over the sky.

She stood entranced as the whole of Asgard turned blood red and smiled.

"Darcy?" A small voice called from somewhere behind her. "Darcy?"

She blinked and the red instantly disappeared. Turning around she saw Jane standing in the doorway leading to their room. She was dressed in deep blue robes and armour, looking like the Asgardian Princess so would one day become.

"Did you see that?" Darcy asked, turning her head between the landscape and her friend, her forehead crinkled up in confusion.

"See what?" Jane reached out towards her.

Her gaze lingered on the sky and knew she was just seeing things. "No- Nothing." She stuttered,

Jane looked down at her clothes, brushing away non-existent creases on her gown, her demeanour tense and sad. "Are- Are you coming to the funeral?"

"She died because of me, Jane. Even I know I shouldn't be there." Her voice quaked as she spoke and angry tears filled her eyes.

"It's not your faul-"

"Don't say that! Of course it's my fault! If I hadn't have followed that stupid science box, if I had just left The Aether alone then none of this would have happened." Her chest felt tight, it was true, she'd messed up and now people were dead and the whole universe was being threatened to plunge into darkness. Tears streamed down her face, she hastily wiped them away. "Lord knows I've done stupid things before, that time I chose Philosophy And Star Trek as a module at Uni or when me and Ryan used car surfed back home, those were both stupid things but I never thought it'd ever fuck up this badly." Darcy laughed bitterly. "I mean, how? How did this even happen? I'm twenty five and in the space of a day I've-" It was becoming harder to breathe, she gasped in air. "I've..."

Jane's arms wrapped around her and it was too much. She sobbed onto the smaller woman's shoulder.

"It's not your fault, Darce." She reassured, stroking the younger woman's back and making comforting shushing sounds.

"Whose fault is it then?" She needed someone to blame, to make it easier.

"This isn't anyone's fault." Darcy nodded, and that's why she blamed herself, because there was no one else.

She wasn't sure how long they hugged, but the tension in her chest started to ease and she insisted Jane leave to attend the ceremony rather than hide in this room with her.

Left alone again, Darcy stared at her arms, feeling violated that she was being used as a vessel against her will. After the urge to scratch and cut her flesh to just get it out of her, she shook herself out of those thoughts and decided to peel off her dirty leggings and jumper to get clean. She washed and afterwards eyed the rich dark green material dress and armour some maids had laid out for her...

When is Asgard... She thought in jest as she attempted to arrange the elaborate yet incredibly comfortable clothes.

Xxxxxx

Something had changed. Darcy wasn't sure what had happened but suddenly there was a new plan and she didn't like it.

Sif snuck her and Jane to Thor. That's when she first met him.

Loki.

"Is that...?" Jane asked as they walked closer to the two men.

They men both turned to look at them as they approached. The dark haired God smiled broadly, teeth showing. "I am Loki, you may have heard of-"

Darcy walked straight past the blond God and slapped Loki across the face.

She stared at her hand, wondering if The Aether would emerge at her act of violence, but there was no sign of it. Nope, that was all her doing. Jutting her chin out she faced the evil man who had killed hundreds and hurt thousands of people.

"That was for New York." She explained, noting how smug Sif looked standing behind a shocked Jane. Loki smiled crookedly and touched his jaw half-heartedly.

"I like her." His voice caused goosebumps to rise and a chill to sweep down her back. She'd seen video footage of him before and tons of pictures. But it had nothing on the tall, vile man who stood before her. The idea of him liking her made her react before she could think, drawing her arm back to slap him again, this time harder than she thought she was capable of.

His head snapped to the side more forceful than before and he looked like it actually hurt that time. After a moment she pointed a finger in his chest, gathering all her guts, she looked him straight in the eye.

"That was for me." If she didn't know better she could have sworn he understood everything she meant behind those words. He had ruined her life. If it wasn't for him, Thor never would have been banished and in New Mexico. Darcy would have finished her boring internship, gotten her six credits and graduated. Hell, she'd probably be in a serious relationship and actually have some saving in her bank account too. No life threading situations or anything! The Battle of New York would never have happened and hundreds of people would still be alive today, including Phil Coulson. True, she didn't love the guy, but she knew him. After he returned her iPod they spoke and he seemed okay, understanding and patient with her. And now he was dead, and the murdered was currently staring at her. His green eyes curiously examining her face.

She felt the redness, The Aether, she kept reminding herself, bubble up, warning her of something, it protected itself after all. They had to go. She told everyone as much and they quickly navigated the corridors of the palace.

Darcy nearly fainted as they boarded the Dark Elves ship, to her horror Jane and Thor helped her up the slope. She took a seat on the floor and watched as Loki and Thor argued over their driving, or flying, she couldn't decide which it was. She would have laughed but even she knew this wasn't the right time.

"Just hit the biggest button." She tried to contribute but Thor ignored everyone's advice and continued to hit everything with the increasing levels of force.

"Why don't you start from the inside and work out?" Jane volunteered.

"Let me take over." Loki was the last straw and Thor snapped.

"Out of all of us, who can actually fly?"

Somehow he managed to fly the thing and after a few dizzying moment of avoiding crashing into buildings, Darcy swayed and laid on the cool floor, she couldn't keep her eyes open much longer, her lids felt too heavy and she began to see darkness as they fluttered closed. The cold metal was nice against her cheek, she mused and sighed contently to herself.

"Oh no, is she dead?" Loki mocked.

"Shut up." Thor barked, concentrating on flying.

"Yeah, shut up, I'm not dead... Just resting my eyes." She murmured, Jane was at her side, stroking her hair.

"Darcy, your eyes!" She didn't know what Jane was referring to but it couldn't have been good.

"Hmm?" She was too sleepy to stay awake.

"They're black. Your sclera is black and your iris' are glowing!"

"My what is black? Honestly Jane, if you just wanted to say I have pretty eyes you could just tell me..." She tried to arrange herself into a more comfortable position, touching Jane's arm lightly as she moved. Silly Jane, Darcy thought, she didn't even have her eyes open, how did she know what colour they were? "But shush, I don't think your BF over there will like you flirting with other people." She couldn't stop the wild giggle that took over.

"This is a truly brilliant plan, Thor! Chose the biggest, most obvious ship you could find to escape-" Loki moaned from the other side of the ship, taunting his brother as he walked across the control deck.

"I guess we'll have to be more discrete then. Right, brother?" Thor told Loki and they exchanged a look, having a silent conversation. She felt Loki's gaze turned to her before she actually opened her eyes to see his unsympathetic glare. She gulped.

Darcy wanted to fight, wanted to kick or scream or hit Loki as he lifted her up in his arms and cradled her body into his armour. Thor had reassured her it was fine and part of the plan as he scooped Jane up but it didn't stop the bile rising in her throat that a man who killed so many people's hands were touching her.

"I hate you." She murmured into his clothes as they reached the edge of the ship, ready to jump overboard.

"You're dying." He looked down his nose at her and she was suddenly overwhelmed by his presence. It was a complete contradiction. His hands were comforting, the pressure made her feel secure despite the fact they were about to jump out of a space ship and yet his disgust of her was evident in his eyes.

"But still I continue to use my energy to hate you rather than to feel better. Doesn't that say something?" She wished her voice was stronger. She wished she didn't sound so pathetic as she whispered to him.

Thor had jumped out with Jane already and so it was just them on the kamikaze ship.

"You are a curious vessel. I must admit, I thought The Aether would have better taste." Loki commented, an eyebrow perfectly arched up.

"Just leave me here then. Magic it out of me and into you. I don't know. Lie, tell Thor it was too late. Or just tell the truth, that you left me, it'll be too late for him to rescue me by then anyway." Darcy laughed, her head lulling onto his shoulder. He was cool against her burning cheek.

Loki's arms tensed and Darcy knew he was considering her words. "All this power flowing in your veins…" He looked her up and down, like a starved man looking at a buffet. It felt incredibly intimate and Darcy squashed the urge she felt to squirm under his scrutiny. "It is wasted on you." He spoke softly after a pause. The words not matching his tone. Darcy's eyes flickered to meet his.

She gasped at the torment she found. The hatred he had was enough to make her doubt herself. She wanted to be better. She wished this had never happened. But it had and now she had to live knowing that Thor's mother, Loki's mother was dead because of her. She didn't know how she cope, the guilt was already destroying her.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, her eyes fluttering closed as she felt so tired. "Frigga was a lovely woman and I'm sorry I wasn't stronger. For her."

Before consciousness slipped away she swore she heard someone quietly whisper. "As am I."

Xxxxxx

She woke up in another realm.

Jane and Thor were sat close to each other, speaking hushed intimate words. Darcy slowly opened her eyes to see Loki steering the boat they were in with one hand and adjusting a blanket wrapped around her with another. His forehead was crinkled up in concentration and he looked far less imposing all of a sudden as he made sure she wasn't cold. She closed her eyes quickly before anyone noticed, unsure why she was worried about being caught.

Groaning and stretching slightly, she made the other aware she was awake.

"So, he yanks the red floaty stuff out of me and when it's all... floaty... In the air," Darcy waved her hands out in front of her, which took more effort than she thought it would. "Thor's gonna zap it with Meow Meow cause 'Yay, you still have your hand' and destroy it then kick some Dark Elf butt." Darcy summarised their plan, trying to play it out in her head but finding it difficult.

"That is accurate, although imprecise." Thor agreed.

"Cool cool. Two things. Can't I hide in the cave with Jane?"

"Darcy..." The older woman warned.

"Alright, I get it. But what if..." She held up her left hand to hide her right as she pointed in Loki's direction. "You-Know-Who," She mouthed over the top. "Really does betray us?" Loki rolled his eyes at her brashness and Darcy responded by defensively shrugging. "What? It's not like he hasn't flip flopped a million times before, I'm sorry Thor but you give him way too much of your trust and each time he stabs you in the back, sometimes literally!"

"Miss Lewis, to what end and purpose do you suppose I am trying to gain?" The dark haired brother asked, his voice almost pleased at the accusation.

"I don't know, but having read every bit of Norse mythology I could find after New Mexico, I find it hard to believe you have less than seven ulterior motives going on at the same time."

"I agree with Darcy. Thor, I know he's your brother but it's her life in the balance. Can we trust him to care about that? He says it himself, humans are bugs, he isn't interested in saving hers or the rest of the universes lives." Jane pleaded, Darcy smiled weakly at her mentor, the conversation had taken its toll on her and she felt drained. Her random energy levels were really starting to annoy her, but she was getting more and more tired now, time was running out fast.

"This isn't about saving Darcy, Jane, not for him." Thor acknowledged. "He is here for one reason and I put my life as forfeit that he will see it through. It just so happens his goal coincides with ours."

Darcy suddenly clicked on what he was referring too and smirked to herself. "Looks like we have another Avenger in our midst." She joked before starting forward in her seat. "Malekith..." She gasped, her eyes hazed over as she saw the Dark Elf nearby, preparing for battle. Her hand reached out to him but he was too far away. "I'm close..." She promised, not noticing the troubled faces in the boat around her.

Someone caught her before her head hit the solid edge of the boat... Funny, she thought as she napped, she could have sworn Thor and Jane were too far away to catch her.

Xxxxxx

It all happened so fast, Darcy was playing her part, pretending Loki had betrayed them, although it didn't take much acting, he was a little too convincing as his cut off the illusion Thor's hand.

He grabbed her around the ribs and pulled her tight against his body, the armour on his arm pushed snuggly against her skin.

"All I ask in return is a good seat." His breath brushed her ear as he laughed, she flinched for good effect as a chill ran down her spine. Loki stiffened as she shiver against him. She didn't hear what he said next, too busy trying to control the sensation that every nerve ending felt exposed. The hairs on all over her body stood on end and the cool breeze of Loki's words on her skin was enough to make her cry out, being overwhelmed by everything.

The Elves spoke an alien language and soon she was tossed on the ground. The dirt was almost a relief after the overly sensitive feelings from before.

The Aether was being removed. Darcy thought she should have been pleased about that, but she felt dazed and speechless, like she had no control. The image of Earth being thrust into darkness played out in front of her eyes and she felt Malekith rummage around her head like she was a sales bin. She cried in pain as he ripped out of her mind.

"Now Loki!" Thor boomed as the plan played out.

Something went wrong. Darcy had fallen to the ground with a thud and Loki's body was on top of hers as Thor struck the vulnerable Aether with lightning from his hammer. She barely recovered in enough time from the removal of the alien force to know that the red swirly Aether that was previously inside her wasn't staying dead like it was supposed to. Her and Loki watched as the little shards it had become started floating up and moulding together again like in Terminator 2 and Darcy freakin' loved that movie so knew what happened next.

There was a rush of movement and she didn't understand much of what was going on except a creepy elf thing was trying to kill her.

She ran but it grabbed her leg and she tripped. On the ground it loomed over her until she saw Loki run up behind it and snap its neck with a sickening crunch. The body fell on the ground next to her and she jumped to get away fast enough.

"Ahhh!" She screamed, mid scramble.

"It can't hurt you now." He mocked her fear but she just glared and clambered to stand behind him.

"Shut up and get me the hell out of here!" She ordered with a growl.

Loki turned his head to look down at her, his eyes were bright with enjoyment. "As you wish." He replied. His hands were on her hips and spinning her around before she could keep up. "Run. Towards that cave." He hurriedly commanded next to her ear, his hand showing her the destination. She could feel his breath hard and fast panting against her skin. "I'll protect you." He reassured her and it worked.

She nodded and braced herself to start running when Loki was suddenly in front of her. She gasped at his unexpected presence and he used her shock to his advantage to lower his head. "Wha-"

His lips captured hers, lightly at first, the slightest of touches, waiting for her to react. She didn't respond. Her brain too busy flowing with adrenaline and a million other thoughts before 'push him away' even popped up, and even if it did it would certainly wouldn't have been before 'fuck, kiss him!' came up.

His hands found themselves on her waist as she froze against him, obviously not taking her pause as denial. His mouth then began to move hungrily, trying to taste hers with a bruising ambition. She tilted her head to get a better angle and he dipped his tongue into her mouth. She groaned at the sensation, a tingle working its way up from deep within her belly. Oh God, she thought as their lips and teeth clashed together, changing the angle of their heads again to get better access. She heard him suck in a breath and realised she was doing the same, panting in each other's arms, before he caught her lips again. Darcy swore she heard a moan vibrate between them, she just didn't know who made it. Her? Him? Both of them…?

Her hands found his hair and pulled him closer, nails scraping his skull in the need for more pressure, more passion… Yep, it was definitely her who groaned that time… Only for her to suddenly realise what was happening and who he was.

Her hands quickly pushed against his shoulders, pushing him away from her and breaking the kiss. "No!" She gasped, covering her mouth as she struggled to draw in enough air.

"Run." He barked again and phased out of existence in front of her. Stunned for a second, she gathered her thoughts together as her feet began to move, sprinting over to the cave Loki had pointed towards.

She was only three feet away when something pushed her to her ground, she tried to get up quickly but was flipped over and pinned down, her back against the dark dirt and facing Loki who she had guessed pushed her over to avoid an attack. Her eye wide caught his. He swallowed hard before releasing her roughly to probably fight whoever had targeted her.

A flash of light caught her eye and she recognised it as a reverse grenade thing the Dark Elves used. Had Loki saved her from it? Was that what he had pushed her away from?

But he was trapped in its radius now, he hadn't pushed her away at all, he was being sucked into its gravity!

Her mind screamed no as she reached out to grab him but he was too far away. "Loki!" She shrieked, her voice mostly lost in the battle around them. She was watching him about to die, she realised. His eyes were fixed on hers and any second now he was going to be blinked, sucked, out of life.

Thor saved him at the last second and Darcy was certain her heart would never recover the extra stress this whole situation put on it. It was almost funny to her after it was over. Darcy and Jane hid in the cave while the fight ended, which didn't last much longer, but soon Thor was guiding his brother into the entrance, leaning against the bigger man for support, Loki was obviously wounded.

"Thor!" Jane rushed over and helped set Loki down safely before stealing a celebratory kiss from her blond god.

Darcy perched on a rock, trying to avoid the other man's eyes. She could feel them burning into the side of her face. This was totally awkward…

Everything had happened so fast that it was hard to believe it had all actually just happened. She had almost died. Loki had kissed her. She kissed Loki... He saved her life then nearly died himself. God... This was too much. She snuck a quick look in his direction and saw his arms crossed and clutching his chest, he looked away from her quickly after being caught. Just how badly had he hurt himself?

Jane was frantically trying to figure something out, a way to get them out of here, Thor was tending to his brother who was defensively trying to get him to stop.

"He's going to Earth." Darcy spoke up randomly. Shit! How did she nearly forget this!

"Pardon?" Thor inquired.

"I saw it, oh God!" It all came flooding back. "He, Malekith, was inside my head and I saw inside his as well... I think." Darcy began to explain, pushing her messy hair out of her face. "He plans to release The Aether on Earth first, its- its going to destroy everything! I- I just don't understand why? Why Earth?"

"The convergence." Jane interjected. "When all nine realms line up, that's when he's going to do it."

"That's less than a day away! And we don't even know where this random portable will turn up."

"Do not forget we are also stuck on Svartalfheim, a beslubbering wasteland." Loki contributed.

"Typical." Darcy announced. She stood up and looked around, feeling conned. "Just typical." She was going to rot away in a cave on another realm and no one would ever know what happened to 'The Brilliant Doctor Foster and Darcy who? Oh, her intern'. She should really start looking into spelunking or something, the amount of times she was finding herself in cave-like places.

"Jane?" Darcy called out wearily, looking around at the floor.

"Yes?" The scientist responded from behind her.

"Er… Does anything about this cave look familiar to you?" Darcy pointed at a very unremarkable Vimto can.

"Now that you mention it..." Jane reached down and picked up one of Ian's shoes.

Darcy stepped forward and nearly tripped over a loose rock, looking down she saw something that was definitely not a rock. Reaching for the battered yet still colourful object she jingled it as she brought it up to eye level. "Jane, I think I found our ruby slippers." She smiled broadly at Jane and held the car keys and plastic Rubik's cube key ring up proudly. "There's no place like home."

Xxxxxx

Darcy thought it would feel different to walk on Earth after being on another planet but it turned out the ground felt just the same as they hurried along the abandoned car park, her and Jane were running ahead to their vandalised car, Thor trying to help his wounded brother but Loki was being stubborn and now refusing. Annoying prideful man, Darcy scowled, tempted to roll her eyes but they didn't have time.

"For God's sake, man up and admit you're hurt!" Darcy practically growled at him as he fell into the back seat of the car next to her. Thor and Jane had taken like parents and sat in the front.

"It is merely a flesh wound. My magic is already healing me." Loki hissed through gritted teeth, it was obvious he was in pain.

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Said the knight with no arms..." She mused aloud and was rewarded with a perplexed look from the God of Lies. She smiled wickedly, her nose crinkling up in spite. Good, she was back to making references no one understood and that gave her a sense of advantage over the Asgardian. "What the hell happened back there anyway?" She hissed, peering over his crossed arms, trying to see the damage.

"It's called a kiss. I thought you would be familiar with the concept." Loki smirked which earned him a slap. He tensed in pain.

"Of course I know what a kiss is!" She snapped back, looking over at Thor and Jane to make sure they hadn't heard. "I meant your sudden inability to move without groaning in pain. I thought you Asgardian's were meant to be solid as rocks."

"If that is the case, I should be more equated to ice." He sighed and moved an arm away revealing a bloodied hole in his armour. It was too dark to see the real damage but she knew it couldn't be just a 'flesh wound'.

"Holy shit. You've been shish-kebabed." She pushed him forward in the seat he was slouched in causing him to wince but he didn't protest, probably too weak. There were blood stains on the back of the chair. "Whatever it was went straight through you, didn't it?" She asked softly, mostly to herself as she eyed his chest.

"Ah…" He sucked in a short breath. "I should have just died." Loki agreed, a wistful tone in his voice that made her look at him curiously. "'Laid down and played dead'. Is that what you Midgardian's say?" He barked back a laugh. What was he talking about?

"Only if you're a dog." She answered slowly, unsure what he was getting at.

"It would have been honourable." He looked disgusted at the word, as if it was an insult.

"It would have been foolish. You saved my life, that's pretty honourable to me." She said, her hands falling away from his armour. Her eyelids felt heavy as her gaze flickered up to his face. She felt a blush rise on her cheeks and wished she could still blame The Aether.

Loki froze, his eyes searched her face as if she had the answers to a question written on it. "But at what cost." He finally said.

Jane turned a corner sharply and Darcy lost balance and fell towards Loki. Her arms caught her but she was still mere inches away from him and suddenly the car felt a lot smaller.

"Are you alright back there?" Jane called, not turning her head from the road.

"Yes Mom!" Darcy scurried away from Loki and decided staring out of the window was the best course of action. "Er... Jane? What exactly do we do now?"

"Um..." Jane paused, not quite knowing what to do next herself. "We're going to my flat." The determination in her voice almost convinced Darcy the smaller woman had a plan.

They arrived at Jane's flat in rush hour traffic half an hour later. It turns out Darcy had done a good job with hiring Ian as an intern as he had used his intuition to find Erik Selvig when her and Jane had gone off the grid. Turns out the Doctor wasn't doing too well since New York, along with not wearing pants, he also refused to be in the same room as Loki when he walked through the front door.

Darcy had made the executive decision to store Loki in the bedroom she was temporarily staying in. He hovered at the door as she hurriedly shoved clothes and computer stuff away in any drawer she could find.

"There you go." She was kind of proud of her tidying efforts. Loki practically strutted into the room and looked down his nose at every item, it crinkled up when he tried to decide where to sit and chose the bed as the lest terrible option. "Feeling better, are we?" Darcy asked at the sudden revert back to his 'holier-than-thou' attitude.

"It is acceptable." He replied, not picking up on her tone.

Darcy lean against her desk, arms crossed as she stared at the God currently sitting on her bed, trying to process what had happened in the past day. They had kissed. She desperately wanted to write it off as a 'we're about to die, let's make out' kiss but couldn't. There was something about him that she couldn't stop thinking about, the way he held himself in armour, fragile yet not… and that moment in the Dark Elf ship... She had seen him vulnerable and despite her brain screaming that he was a murderer and pure evil, she didn't see that in front of her anymore.

"I'm adopted." She said after a while. Where the fuck had that come from? Her mind screamed. Great, now she was opening up to the psycho-killer! Loki paused his inspection of his wound for a split-second but didn't say anything. "Yeah..." Darcy didn't know if she should continue but soon the words were coming out of her mouth before she could stop them. "My family were nice people. They had their own daughter already who was so… Anyway, they wanted to adopt and help someone else out there, give them a chance, you know, instead of having another one themselves." Darcy smiled, thinking of her sister, Katherine. She was eight years older than her and lived the ideal life. Good steady job, a husband and planning on having kids soon. Everything she did, she succeeded at and Darcy always felt second best compared to her. She loved her though, she was the best sister anyone could wish for and her family never compared them but it didn't stop the insecurities that came with being the only adopted one in the family. "My birth Mom had cancer, she died. I knew I was adopted from the start, they never tried to hide it or make it seem like a shameful thing, because it's not something to be embarrassed about." The conviction in her voice even surprised her. "You know what? I'm so proud to say I'm adopted because that means I have parents who wanted to share their home, their life with someone else. They wanted to love someone unconditionally and open their family to another who wasn't lucky enough to be born into it already. How freakin' amazing is that?"

He shot her a look as if to ask if she was going to continue or not.

"You got handed a shitty start in life and sure, Odin wasn't winning any Father of the Year awards, but it couldn't all be that bad, I mean I only met Frigga briefly but she was-"

"Don't." He flinched as if her words hurt him.

There was a tense moment, made only worse when Loki began to unbuckle straps and unwind leather, stripping out of his armour. Darcy played over her and Frigga's chat, follow your instincts the older woman had said. Darcy sighed, her instincts never really helped her in situations like this. After all, she just tried to connect with a vengeful God who killed hundreds of people the year before.

"I'm sorry." She twisted her hands together, looking down at the pale skin to see if any traces of The Aether still lingers underneath. Anywhere but him. "I should get going. Evil Elf to defeat and all..." She trailed off and started to leave when he cut her off.

"Insufferable thing!"

"Excuse me?" Her voice was a mixture of defensive and shock. She saw him struggling to open a buckle on his side, the odd angle clearly causing him pain. "Do, do you need help or something?" She asked, almost unbelieving the scene playing out in front of her.

"Oh, you'd love that wouldn't you? How superior you must feel, advising the Prince of Asgard, offering aid." He spat and practically sneered at her. The image of a wounded lion flashed in her mind. "I may be injured but I still have my intellect and dignity." It was Darcy's turn to flinched. She opened and closed her mouth a few times to speak, rage building inside her as she struggled to find where to start.

"Are you kidding me?" Darcy slammed the door shut before confronting Loki on the bed. "Are you fucking kidding me!? I don't give a shit about your giant intellect and pride, news flash, I hate you. You killed hundreds of people all because of some throne you think you're entitled to? That's the biggest dick move since Hitler. It's safe to say the only reason you're alive right now is because you saved my life and that earns you a few trust points in Thor's book. But don't think for a second anyone but him is going to run up and help you when this is all over. So, shut the fuck up and admit your hurt."

Somehow, her rant eased the tension in the room and they both smiled weakly at each other.

"Having followed the first order how can I fulfil the second?" He asked, an eyebrow quirked up and a smirk forming.

"Just shut up then." Darcy pushed him lightly on the shoulder before removing the stubborn metal plate he had struggled with.

Xxxxxx

Once Loki could fully see the damage, he healed himself quickly and Darcy had to bite her lip to stop staring at his bare chest. Murderer! She told herself. Murderer who also saved your life... and kissed you… A smaller voice she wished she could ignore also reminded her.

Looking at the ceiling, anywhere but him as he fixed her blood stained clothes, she decided she should probably just leave.

In the kitchen Jane and Erik had worked magic of their own and discovered exactly where Malekith was going to strike, Greenwich. Nice and easy, Darcy thought to herself as they went over how Erik's metal sticks were going to save them. Thankfully he'd put trousers on now, Darcy loved Erik like a cool uncle but seeing him like that was just weird.

Jane went off to get changed while Erik, Thor and Ian loaded up the cars. Darcy decided it was probably best to get out of the crazy nice Asgardian robes and into something made more appropriate for running around London. She hovered at her bedroom door, not overly wanting to face Loki again, she had barely had time to think about that kiss and now wasn't the right time to start, they had multiple worlds to save and bad guys to stop!

Finding confidence from somewhere, she pushed open the door and almost smacked straight into Loki's chest.

He merely raised an eyebrow at her as she awkwardly shuffled around him to get to her wardrobe.

"Er, I don't know if you heard but Erik-"

"I am aware. It is an ill-nurtured plan of iron-wit but I see no other conceivable way for averting Malekith in such short time." Loki's tone was almost rhythmical as he insulted things.

Darcy sighed as she flung a pair of jeans off the top of a pile of clothes, hunting for some leggings and her favourite comfy boots. "Do you rehearse or do you always speak like that?"

Loki didn't look amused as a random shoe was tossed on the floor near where he stood. He eyed it with distain.

"Speak how?" He questioned.

"You know, like a Shakespearian Character." Loki just continued to stare at her like she was form another planet, which she guessed to him she was... She stood up and turned to him, amused. "Dost thou not comprehend thy jest?"

"Evidently not." He answered slowly, his mouth forming a smile around the words as he spoke.

She couldn't help but smile slightly at his response. Of course he understand that!

"Right, get out. I need to change." She announced once she found what she was looking for.

His smirk got bigger as he stepped closer to her. "I do not mind." He said offhandedly but Darcy was suddenly very aware of how close he was to her, just one step, a tilt of her head and she could reach his... His eyes had darkened, his pupils dilated and she knew exactly his implication as his eyes racked over her robe clad body.

"Well I do! Get out." She shoved him and he laughed as he nearly tripped over the edge of the bed on his way out. She was struck with how much younger he looked as he smiled with amusement and not mischief.

"I must protest, you are a divine sight in this outfit. To change would be to knock perfection."

"Out!" She yelled, a smile betraying her tone.

He left and she hurriedly changed. Half an hour later they were halfway across London and Darcy was running for her life from some Dark Elves. Again.

Xxxxxx

Her and Ian were about to die. She knew it. He knew it.

For some reason, as a fleet of Elves spotted them and charged with their weapons ready, she reached over and grabbed Ian's hand. They had nowhere to run except towards them and she had to admit, she kind of saw it coming. Darcy honestly didn't think she would survive this from the beginning, she was a clumsy, clueless mortal, going up against gods and aliens she knew she was fooling herself if she thought she'd come out of this alive and in one piece.

So as Ian pulled her closer, he was grateful her intern was there so she wasn't alone when it all ended.

She closed her eyes and tensed, curling towards Ian's chest, waiting for a blow to come that never did. Opening her eyes a fraction she saw an upside down car now in the place of the Dark Elves.

"What..." Ian muttered next to her. She looked up at a flash of movement from the corner of her eye and saw him.

Loki disappeared from the top of a building and reappeared in front of them.

"Thanks." She said breathlessly, after a second to recover, her blood pumping so loud she could hear it in her ears.

"You're welcome." He acknowledged, practically bowing. His eyes flickered between her and Ian then spotted their joined hands. He quirked his head to the side and shot the shorter man a glare.

"Yeah, thanks mate." Darcy winced as Ian thanked the God, obviously not knowing about his volatile nature.

She let out an involuntary scream as she saw Loki's elbow crash into her intern's forehead. He dropped to floor with a thud and she was left staring wide eyed, mouth agape.

"Loki!" She shoved his shoulder hard, he barely moved, instead laughed at the unconscious man on the ground in a heap.

"What? He's safer here. Out of the way." He shrugged, giving her an innocent look that didn't fool anyone.

"Wherever." She had an idea suddenly. "Hey! Teleport me over there, I need to get this thing set up." She pointed at Selvig's long stick then the space across the lawn it needed to be stuck in. She reached down to pick up the discarded metal pole and when she straightened she found herself in Loki's arms. She gasped at the unexpected touch, and he smirked at her reaction. She only had a second to figure out what he was doing, his hip edging closer to hers. Taking advantage to swoop down and place a kiss on her parted lips

He let go of her a moment later and she was about to scold him when she noticed they were standing exactly where she had pointed a moment earlier. He had teleported them. The bastard had teleported them mid-kiss!

"Wow..." She breathed out, not sure what she was so in awe of, the teleporting or another stolen kiss from Loki. She shook out of it, looking around at the ground before stabbing the metal rod into it. It bleeped and sprung to life which Darcy could only assume was a good sign.

"You're most welcome." Loki's voice remarked from beside her. He stood, arms clasped behind his back, looking all the part of the 'Prince' that he was.

"You!" Pointing a finger in his armour covered chest. "Stop doing that!"

"Stop what? Saving your life? Kissing you?" Smug was not a strong enough word to describe the look on his face.

"Yes! No. Just the kissing. Stop the kissing!" She stuttered. "This is a kiss free zone." She declared, gesturing towards them both.

"Pity, I rather liked it." He announced, then spun on his heels and headed straight back towards the main site of battle.

"No! There is no 'like'. That was bad, very very bad." She jogged to keep up with his pace. Damn his long legs!

"On the contrary, I thought it was particularly good." She yelped as he stabbed a Dark Elf and tossed it to the ground with flourish as if it was a dance. "Very very good."

"Well, yeah, but its wrong!" The words slipped out before she could stop them. "So wrong! I mean, you're Loki, you've got mystic powers and wanted to rule Earth like a God. I'm human. It's the equivalent of a cat fancying a mouse." Loki chuckled at her analogy. "You're the mouse, by the way." His face fell into a scowl that caused her to chuckle instead.

"Are you insinuating you 'fancy' me?"

Darcy opened and quickly shut her mouth at her mistake. "I... I..."

They reached the courtyard where Malekith's ship had crashed and Loki turned, the long tails of his tunic whipping around his legs. Reaching down to capture her smaller hand in his, Loki slowly brought it up to his lips and placed a gentle but firm kiss on the back.

"It has been a pleasure, Lady Darcy. If we do not survive this, I regret not getting to spend more time with the only tolerable mortal I have ever encountered." Her forehead crinkled. There was a compliment in there somewhere, she supposed.

He gave a charming smile and ran off towards the gathering red dust that was expanding around Malekith and Thor. She was surprised with how handsome and happy he looked running into the centre of a fight.

She rushed over to Jane and Erik, not knowing what else to do and ended up keeping watch out for Jane as she zapped Malekith with the metal rods Thor was throwing at him. Darcy was suddenly glad she played video games as a kid as she cheered encouragement and advice to Jane over the small control screen she was using.

Two minutes later the battle was over and they were hurriedly getting back to their cars before SHIELD turned up and started asking questions.

Xxxxxx

Jane's apartment didn't seem big enough anymore, not with her, Darcy, Erik, Ian, Thor and Loki all sitting in the living room. Thor and Jane had become that intolerably cute couple, cuddled up on the sofa. Darcy would have found it romantic that they were together again after another 'saving the world' adventure except she was trying really hard to not thing of romance right now. Erik had settled into the plush chair furthest away from Loki who somehow managed to make sitting on the arm of a sofa next to Thor elegant. Ian had pulled up a stool from the kitchen and Darcy had just given up and collapsed on the rug in front of the TV.

"Great job guys." She muttered with as much energy as she could, which wasn't much, her arm draped over her throbbing head.

"I concur, after rest we must begin the celebrations, I believe it is custom here on Midgard to eat Shawarma after a great battle." Thor piped up.

"You're damn right." Darcy laughed, not quite understanding his reference for once. "Shawarma and alcohol!"

"I dunno about you guys, but I need to record all the data the equipment picked up. The refractormeter readings alone will be-" Jane looked so excited that Darcy almost didn't have the heart to break it to her.

"Er, Jane?" Darcy looked over at Ian who had now gotten a frozen potato waffle pressed against his forehead, the only frozen thing they had at the apartment. Darcy thanked the stars that he didn't remember how he got knocked out, let alone who did it. He winced and shook his head at her unspoken question. "I think the refractormeter and a few other bits got damaged..."

"Oh no, what stuff?" The doctor's eyes were wide with alarm.

She sucked in a breath through clenched teeth, her nose crinkling up. "All of it, I think?" She cringed, unable to think of a way to soften the blow. "Yeah, all- all of it."

"But- but the advancements we could have... The papers I could..." The older woman said stunned, her shoulders slumped a moment later as she fell back on the sofa in defeat. "Whatever."

"At least you are safe and well, my darling Jane. Measurements and science are meaningless if you were to have been harmed." Thor pressed a closed mouthed kiss onto Jane's temple. Darcy groaned and rolled over onto her side, facing away from them.

Sleep. She needed sleep.

"So when are we to return to Asgard?" Loki asked from his position on the sofa. Darcy was glad she was hidden as she listened in on their conversation, confused by it. Loki wanted to return? That didn't make sense.

"I know you are eager to leave Midgard, brother but I must insist we at least rest so can return in good health."

"Why do you want to go back so quickly anyway? I thought you were in prison there." Jane asked, her tone gentler than Darcy could have managed when asking the same thing.

"Doesn't want to spend any longer on such a pathetic planet then needed, I suspect." Erik joked, although Darcy knew him well enough to feel the bitterness under his tone.

Loki cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable at where the conversation had led. "I merely believe amends are best made sooner considering the various acts of treason that contributed to our departure." He replied smoothly and Darcy tensed, remembering every bad thing everyone had done to help them escape and help her. She also noticed how Loki did not protest to being called 'brother' by Thor.

"And you are willing to return to your previous state of capture?"

"I consider that to be one of the amends I will face upon my return. Odin will no doubt have me sentenced to a worse fate after all that has occurred and the part I played." Loki did not sound angry or upset at this, if Darcy hadn't have known better, she could have sworn he sounded regretful.

"But you saved us. All of us. Doesn't that count for anything?" Jane's innocence was almost endearing.

"He still tried to take over the world, Jane." Darcy groaned as she moved to stand up. "I'm sorry Thor but I don't think there's a Shawarma take out around here so I'm just gonna order pizza, any requests?"

"Do you need any assistance?" She paused her stretches and looked at Loki suspiciously.

"Are you offering to help?" Her surprise was obvious.

"Are you planning to carry six of the pizza by yourself?" The way he spoke of pizza made her eyebrows shoot up. He clearly had no idea what they were talking about. But he must have some reason to volunteer. Whether that be boredom, a plot of some sort or genuinely out of the kindness of his heart, Darcy didn't know or care right now.

Shrugging she said. "Sure, knock yourself out." As they left, everyone's requests hastily typed on her phone and her wallet in Loki's bemused hands. She didn't have any pockets and couldn't be bothered to find her handbag.

Xxxxxx

"So, you're really planning on going back to Asgard?" Darcy asked after the longest uncomfortable silence she'd ever experienced, and Darcy usually caused them so this was beyond awkward. The streets of London were dead. Even half an hour away from the battle in Islington, where Jane's flat was, the roads were practically abandoned and Darcy assumed most people were at home watching the events of that afternoon get replayed on the news. Choosing to stay in the safety of their homes with their family than outside.

"It is within everyone's best interest." Loki muttered, although his muttering still sounded so fucking eloquent she wondered how he did it. Elocution lessons growing up? Maybe everyone on Asgard just had great diction. She almost sniggered at the word diction but stopped herself. Now was not the time for childish things.

She noticed him turning the dark purple purse over in his hands, his fingers toying with the closed zip. He was nervous. "You sure 'bout that?"

"Would you rather I remain in Midgard? Where I can roam free and cause all kinds of mischief?"

'Mischief' wasn't the word he really meant to use, she guessed. But the other options were far worse. She smiled sweetly at him, he was still too playing with the zip to notice.

"Earth." She flicked her tongue as she said the word.

"Pardon?"

"Earth. If you're on this planet, you should start calling it by its name. Earth." She corrected him. "I had to call Asgard Asgard and the Bi-Frost the Bi-Frost when I was on your planet. It's only fair."

Loki's hands stilled. "What did you call the Bi-Frost beforehand?"

"Jane wanted to call it The Rainbow Bridge, I said it sounded too much like a gay bar I used to go to. She didn't really like that I started making puns, but the name kind of stuck after a while."

"The Rainbow Bridge?" He sounded amused and Darcy looked up to see a small quirk in his lips. She suddenly realised they were both walking along the path dressed as if a bomb had hit them. Her clothes were caked in cement dust and mud and Loki looked even worse, like he was a reject from a steam punk goth party gone wrong. She looked up to the cloudy grey sky and wondered what a field day her Mom would have if she could see her daughter right now. "I'm finding I rather like that. Heimdall would no doubt object, but that makes it all the more fun."

"Still you shouldn't go back."

"Would you prefer I stay, I can think of five or six people who would rather me locked in that cage on Asgard. How are The Avengers these days?"

"See, that's the thing I don't get." Darcy pondered aloud. "If you wanted to overthrow Earth again you would just stay, no way Loki from a year ago would willing go back, not when Earth was right there for the taking. No, you don't want to rule us silly little humans anymore, that's why you're so cool it's going back and honestly, I think that's why you should stay."

They walked in silence for a little while longer as he thought over her deductions. Her phone buzzed, receiving a text from Jane checking if she was alright with Loki and that they could come if anything went wrong. She quickly typed a smiley face and sent it back before walking in silence again. Darcy held her breath, focusing on his long pale fingers clutching her purse after a while.

"And if it was a bluff? If I knew Thor would assume the very same thing and it played into my hands?" Loki said calmly, confidently.

"Then," Darcy thought for a second before smiling brilliantly, she knew she had won whatever battle they were having. "Then why are you helping me get pizza?"

It was his turn to hold his breath as he watched Darcy push open a shop door and stroll in like she owned the place.

Xxxxxx

Darcy tried to ignore the way Loki openly stared at her as they waited for their pizzas to be cooked and boxed up. A TV that hung on the wall in the cheap takeout place was showing the news headlines which consisted of Malekith, Thor and Loki fighting, the presenters were giving a running commentary that both amused and shocked her, especially when one woman started claiming this was all set up by Thor to make him a hero in everyone's eyes again before he killed all humans. The guy behind the counter was transfixed on the screen that he didn't even care to really look at the American and Asgardian who just placed an order, which only made Darcy laugh more internally. But between avoiding the TV screen, which was tempting a sarcastic comment from her that would get them noticed, and Loki's full out gaze, which was just asking for trouble, she was running out of places to look so ended up reading every ingredient on the menu.

"Who the hell has avocado on pizza?" She asked no one, disgusted.

"I find myself wanting to kiss you again." Loki said out of the blue.

"What? Did you..." Darcy felt heat rise on her face. "Dude, you can't just say stuff like that!" She hissed, looking over at the young guy behind the counter who notice.

"Why not? I wish to make my intentions clear and as you requested I not kiss you again I believe we should discuss it before I make my next attempt." He held his long arms in front of him, hands clasped in an assured manner. It took her a moment to realise she was staring at his hands before snapping herself out of it.

"Woah, there. There's nothing to discuss. I've seen enough movies to know that adrenaline runs high in the middle of battle sequences and kissing happens. There's no real passion, it's just a spur of the moment thing, like 'oh my god, we're going to die' or 'yay, we didn't die'!" Darcy made little fist-pumping motions and immediately regretted it. "So, we should just pretend it never happened, and like, don't tell anyone. Okay?" She tried to convince herself the tingling feeling in the pit of her stomach was just hunger and the way her heart clenched before beating at twice the normal rate was because her body was still recovering from being a vessel for some older than Earth power.

His eyes narrowed at her speech, a quizzical look set on his face. "I will accept your premise with proof. I however have been in battle on far more occasions than yourself and never felt the desire to kiss Thor or Volstagg or any of my comrades before."

"I'd totally pay to see that." She muttered to herself before continuing. "And what proof do you even need?" She asked in utter bemusement.

"I'd like to kiss you in less life threatening circumstances." He answered simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "To see if the outcome remains the same."

"Now?" She blurted out loudly, causing the pizza boy to look over at them in annoyance.

"Now is as sufficient time as any. We are not in imminent danger, I assume this means the adrenaline you speak of Midgardians having is low and so now is ideal." He spoke as if listing off steps in an experiment, which she supposed this was to him.

"Loki, I'm not going to kiss you. You may be totally cut under that leathery tunic bondage thing and I'm sure if you scowled less, or smiled less manically then you would be super hot. Not to mention the Prince thing, I grew up on Disney, I dreamed of a real life Prince when I was a kid so... Wow, thank you... But no." She was rambling, she knew it but couldn't stop.

"Is it a human trait for women to be able suppress emotions so effectively?"

Darcy was thinking of a way to respond when the boy shoved a pile of pizza boxes on the counter and called her name, despite them being the only people waiting. Loki insisted on carrying them and tried to open the door for her as they left but she beat him to it.

"We could just teleport back." He commented as they crossed a dead road.

"Not the way you teleport, buddy." She scoffed. "Plus, I need to make one more stop before home." She pointed to a shop two doors down, practically skipping ahead of him to reach it.

Xxxxxx

"I brought alcohol and pizza! Now tell me how much you love me." Darcy announced as they returned to the apartment.

Turns out celebrating after a victory on Asgard is similar to on Earth, only without the more elaborate food. By the end of the evening all the pizza was gone, thanks to Thor and so was most of the alcohol, Darcy, Jane and Erik were mostly to blame for that one.

It was around 2am before they all retired to bed, only then realising that the flat only had one guest room, which Darcy was currently staying in. It didn't take a genius to know where Thor would sleep but that left Erik, Ian and Loki rather bedless. Luckily, Erik was already asleep in the comfy chair and Ian was up for sleeping on the sofa. Which just left a tipsy Darcy with the game of 'where to put the Loki'.

Either he had a silver tongue or she had drunk more than she realised, but somehow Loki ended up in the same bed as her in the spare room. Actually, Darcy didn't even remember talking about it, he just sort of followed her not knowing where to go either and they both ended up there.

"You're not getting under the covers." She commanded him.

"Wouldn't dream of it." He examined the bed covers with a wrinkled nose before Darcy pulled them back and laid down.

Her eyes were closed before her head hit the pillow, her back turned to him, but she was still conscious enough to feel the dip on the other side of the bed as Loki put his weight on it. Laying down she suddenly felt the urge to cuddle up next to him, for comfort but squashed it down.

"Don't think this means I like you." She muttered, sleepily. "Because I don't."

"You were much more bearable when you were The Aether's vessel." He countered. "I find you much too brass and crude when fully conscious and not dying."

"Shut up Loki. Goodnight." She was glad he couldn't see her smiling at their banter.

"Don't let the Álfheimr Elves bite." His response sounded almost poetic, like a bedtime saying his mother used when she tucked him in. Darcy tried not to think about Loki's Mom, knowing just the thought of the lovely woman would cause her to be flooded with guilt, but it was too late. Her mind went back to Asgard, the beautiful scenery, the incredible food and the amazing people. She really like Frigga, she was nice to Darcy and didn't have to be. She was most definitely the calm and loving yin to Odin's angry yang. After a few minutes of thinking about the wonderfully kind woman who protected her after only knowing her for a few moments, stray silent tears slipped out, leaving burning trails as they wetted her hair. She just hoped Loki didn't notice that either.

Xxxxxx

Loki was awake for hours after Darcy's breathing had evened out, his hand hovered over her arm, her back, her hair, never needing to touch but wanting to. He could feel her spirit humming off her skin.

This silly human. Something so fragile and fleeting had never caught his attention before, not the way she had. He had spent too much time thinking of just her. He initially thought it was because she was the vessel The Aether chose, thus, she must be special. But he knew it was something else. This pathetic little mortal was making him question everything he had assumed about Midgardians, proving time and time again that she was the exception to his prejudgments. He was tempted to hurt her. She lay so defenceless in her sleep, completely vulnerable to attack, that would solve his problem wouldn't it? How dare this one person make him seem vulnerable and weak? Who did she think she was to offer advice and openly ridicule him! The one person who made him reconsider the worth of human life... A voice in the back of his head mocked him. If he were to simply kill her then it would all return to how it was before. He could sneak out of here and already have formulated a plan to take over Earth before morning. He smiled but it instantly slipped.

Earth. To his horror, he'd called the planet 'Earth'! It was too late. He knew he couldn't harm her then.

After a long time, he finally laid on his back, arms crossing on his chest. Just listening to the sound of her breathing, matching his own to hers then falling asleep.

Xxxxxx

Darcy woke up to find herself in Loki's arms. She didn't mind as much as she thought she would, choosing to just close her eyes and fall back to sleep. She decided her lack of caring about a mass murderers arms wrapped around her was because she was still tipsy and working on practically zero sleep after a very traumatic ordeal.

She wiggled closer, her hand gripping his forearm out of security. It was nice.

Xxxxxx

The next morning Thor and Loki returned to Asgard.

Jane wasn't nearly as worried as she had been the last time Thor left, something about The Rainbow Bridge not being destroyed this time, which was a great relief for Darcy who had to deal with the crying and the anger and the searching last time. But it did leave them with not much to do while Jane insisted on waiting around just in case he came back while she was out.

Darcy was currently chopping up salad for their lunch, her mind wondered as she stared out the small kitchen window that overlooked the row of houses on the other side of the street.

SHIELD had contacted Jane. Well, they sent an email to Jane which Darcy read as the older woman like to avoid technology she didn't invent and build herself that actually worked. It stated they were 'interested in the development in Greenwich' and sending an agent over. Darcy ignored it, Jane wouldn't care if they sent a heads up or not, she still disliked the organisation for messing around with her data last time, and they were in for a disappointment this time around as well, as Jane had confirmed earlier that all her equipment was indeed destroyed or rendered useless by something during the battle. Or someone, Darcy thought.

Earlier that morning, about four hours into her research, Jane was coming up empty handed and was starting to give Darcy side glances of interest, but not say anything out loud. Not that she needed to, Darcy knew what the scientist wanted. Her blood, her brain waves, her urine! Anything that could have been affected by being a vessel for The Aether. Bless her, Darcy thought as they tried to extract the data from another field reader or something but when inputting it on to the computer it came up blank, Jane would never outright ask to test her intern but she could see the Doctor was itching to ask. Especially now they had nothing else to go on.

That's when Darcy decided to get some food for them all and not have to endure Jane's silently pleading doe eyes any longer.

Cutting up cucumber was oddly therapeutic. Her thoughts led to Loki and she toyed with the possibility of what she would say or do if she ever saw him again. Although with him returning to Asgard meant it was unlikely to ever happen. Yep, he is probably under lock and key for the rest of eternity now, she guessed.

The searing pressure of his first kiss was burned into her memory, both haunting and pleasurable to think of. His lips were surprising cool, she remembered, but his tongue was hot as it attacked hers. Claiming, stealing her mouth. He made her feel so wanted, his hard body pressed against hers and her panting from lust and fear against him in return. It was almost animalistic. Desperate. God, she had never been kissed like that before...

"Darcy..." Someone hissed from behind her, their voice quiet, yet distinctly male right next to her ear causing her to jump in shock and slice across her left index finger. She dropped the knife quickly out of instinct.

"Jesus! For fucks sake Ian-" She spun around to find no one. Poking her head out of the kitchen she saw Ian, Erik and Jane around the living room table, kneeling on the floor looking over some papers.

"Everything okay, Darce?" Erik called across the room. It was good to see him with trousers on by choice.

"Yeah... Yeah, just going insane."

"I know how you feel. But you're not alone!" Erik replied, too much cheer in his voice than was appropriate.

"That's what I'm worried about." She muttered to herself as she turned back into the kitchen. She raised her hand closer to her face to inspect the damage only to find no trace of the cut she swore she'd made.

She shook her head, putting it down to stress and continued to prepare lunch.

Xxxxxx

It was two days later, on Thursday, when Thor.

"Typical." Darcy said as her and Jane heard the overwhelming sound of the Bi-Frost opening on the apartment's tiny balcony.

His grave demeanour and sad eyes told them all did not go as planned on Asgard...

"Loki has been banished. He- he has been sent away, I know not where." Thor stammered after they gathered around him on the sofas. He looked on the verge of tears and Darcy was trying hard not to freak out.

"That's good though right? That means he's not locked up, and maybe he's here somewhere on Earth like you were when you were banished?" Jane tried to comfort him, it must have helped ease Thor's concerns a little as he smiled weakly at the woman he loved. Darcy was still continually shocked at how much Thor loved and cared for his brother, despite all the shit he did. At least now he had sort of redeemed himself, she mused, trying to ignore the sick feeling in her stomach at the idea of Loki being in trouble. He saved her life, after all, that's the only reason she cared…

"I hope for such an outcome, but even if my brother were to dwell here, he will not be himself. He is without his powers," Thor sighed heavily, as if the thought of what he was about to say was enough to cause him pain. "He- Father took-" Crap, if Thor was struggling to get his words out, this couldn't be good at all… She was just glad she wasn't in the room on Asgard when all this shit went down. "Loki is without him memories."

Oh... Darcy immediately thought.

"Shit." Yep, it was definitely bad when Jane swears.

Xxxxxx

Xxxxxx

And there you have it! After seeing the movie 3 times and spending waaaay to much time writing this. It's finally published!

Hope you liked it :-)

Please review. Even just a few words, I would love to hear what you made of my story as it has been driving me crazy for days now! Or even just to chat about the movie because I'm still super pumped about it!

Thank you for reading.

Charlie