Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters here used. I wish I did, but they all belong to Marvel and its great All-Father: Stan Lee.

Also, my Beta is amazing and I owe her a lot :) This exists because of her.

"Look deeper through the telescope

and do not be afraid when the stars

collide towards the darkness,

because sometimes the most beautiful

things begin in chaos."

― Robert M. Drake

Darcy had never, ever thought she would live something like that. She really wasn't a very ambitious girl. So yea, she wanted her degree, her apartment, job, parties, a house, travelling the world… but those were common ambitions. Everybody wanted to do at least one of those things.

Anyways, she really should have known that an internship with a crazy astrophysicist was not going to help her achieve that. But hey, Dr. Foster's investigation sounded like something coming out of a science fiction movie and really, no one was going to apply. So, out of compassion, she did.

Of course none of that mattered now. The past was in the past. What they were facing now was so much worse than just some internship and life goals.

Somehow, discovering interdimensional travelling attracted lots of supervillain aliens through the years. It put Earth out there to all kinds of crazy. First, Thor, then the Destroyer, then New York, then the Dark Elves. Now, apparently, a purple monster who called himself Thanos. Bit dramatic for Darcy's tastes, but hey, she was no one to judge. So right after the Dark Elves incident, she started training. Very rigorously. And she got her degree, which allowed her to stop that crazy internship, though she had developed a friendship with Jane.

Did that mean she was finally going to get away from weird stuff? SHIELD didn't think so. Supposedly SHIELD was gone, but barely a year after she stopped working for Jane, she received a call. Apparently back in Asgard the emo brother of Thor, Loki, responsible for the Battle of New York and saviour of Jane back in the day, stoler of the throne of Asgard for a short while after the Dark Elves, had confessed something really disturbing.

This Thanos guy, the one all of them knew by now, was preparing an army. And the Chitoori, cheetari, whatever, were like a first taste of what was going to come. Earth needed an ambassador to other planets and she had her degree. And also she knew how to fight and she just knew too damn much to be left alone and to allow her to, I don't know, travel around Europe in peace. Also, Loki confessed he had been tortured and almost driven crazy - almost? Darcy scoffed- by the Purple Monster, and his father, Odin, had decided to make him work as whatever he needed Loki to be: from a spy to an official ambassador as well. Odin had also thought that Earth could use his abilities, so SHIELD was now using Loki too as whatever they needed him to be.

Finally, Thor had the worse idea of all his life and dropped the word to Coulson (the Avengers were still happy that Coulson wasn't dead) about her and her degree and her skills -she had asked him for some lessons in fighting after all, and he was a surprisingly good teacher.-

She received the call, she assessed her situation an entire night and she accepted. Mostly because she couldn't say no and Jane was already living with Thor and she told her everything and fuck who else had enough time to do anything ? Plus, she needed the money. Student loans were an invention of Satan himself.

She had six months of intensive training with none other than the Black Widow, she went with her to three particular missions and she was finally accepted.

Okay, maybe she didn't have her life goals that much firm yet. And maybe she had been a little excited about being able to do something besides sitting in the last place and watching the action without joinin in.

So, that was her current situation. She was going to be introduced to Loki, the god of Mischief and Lies, as a partner in her missions. But first, Loki was going to teach her everything about the other worlds, the beings in them, the traditions, and secret passages "between the branches of Yggdrasil", as Thor had said.

Darcy was standing besides Thor and facing a big black dude with a golden armour and a gigantic GOLDEN SWORD, and GOLDEN EYES oh my god the entire place was frikin' golden!

"Good morning, Lady Darcy Lewis." Said the giant with a nod of his...golden head.

Darcy smiled and nodded too.

"Darcy, this is Heimdall, protector and all-seeing of the Nine Realms." Thor introduced the guy with pride.

"Good morning, Heimdall. Nice to meet you. Jane talked a lot about you." Darcy smiled warmly and Heimdall seemed happy with her answer.

"We will meet Loki in the throne room, Darcy. There's a boat waiting for us already that will take us to the other side of the Bifrost."

Darcy was fascinated with the place and didn't pay much attention, so she just followed Thor.

The boat, of course, was not normal. It was a floating boat. Seriously. Jesus Christ! She climbed in it and grabbed the sides until her knuckles turned white. She had hoped Thor wouldn't notice, but his little compassive simper showed the contrary.

"Don't worry, Darcy. I learned to sail through the realm when I was barely an infant."

"Yes? Well, guess who didn't! What happens if I fall here?"

Too late, she realized she shouldn't have said anything.

"We don't know that much. What we do know is that you might not be the same when you come back, if you ever come back."

"Sorry, dude. I know Loki fell."

Thor nodded but stayed silent the rest of the trip.

The Asgard she could see outside was beautiful. It reminded her a little to Elrond's place in Lord of the Rings. There were hills everywhere, little houses between the trees and beautiful waterfalls. She could see other realms in the sky.

When they made it to the other side, Darcy was at both relieved and disappointed. The trip had been short but the sight was amazing. She needed to see everything again.

Thor walked by her side the entire way. Fortunately, the palace wasn't too far and few Asgardians were there to stare at her.

She kept a neutral expression until they entered the throne room, where she lost it again. The place was enormous. The floor had an intricate design all over, that reminded her of Celtic knots, and the high ceiling was opened, showing the sky outside.

Odin was sitting on the throne, his old and tired composure inspired compassion in Darcy. She remembered that the guy had lost his wife and nearly his entire family. He only had Thor left.

"Greetings, Lady Darcy Lewis of Midgard."

"I hope you are doing well, King Odin, Allfather." Darcy curtsied cordially.

"I am, thank you. In the circumstances that surround the universe, I am as good as I can be. I don't want to have you standing there for hours and the situation is rather complicated right now for long ceremonies." She understood. Odin gestured to the guards near a...guess what, golden door. A bunch of heavily armed guards entered the throne room. In the middle of them, a tall guy dressed with a green, gold and black armour. Loki. The group approached her and the guards positioned themselves all around her and Loki, taking off the handcuffs and the gag so he could talk to her.

He was tall. Really, intimidatingly tall. His black raven hair was perfectly combed backwards and he had bright, green eyes. He gave her a toothy, insane smile and Darcy wondered if the guy had ever gone to therapy in his long life. Because she was sure as hell he needed some meds. Lots of meds. Maybe even all the available meds on Earth. And a good psychiatrist.

"You're the mortal they expect me to work with?" He stated, looking up and down to her, his smile turning into a sneer.

"Great deduction there, Sherlock." Darcy knew he wasn't familiar with the character, but she also knew Thor was. He had watched the show with her at least three times. When Thor snickered, Loki shifted his glare at him and narrowed his eyes.

"Behave, Loki, or you'll go back to your prison." Odin intervened without even looking at them.

Darcy wasn't exactly happy with her situation. But for once in her life, she decided to put aside her pride and be the mature one. So, she gestured dismissively towards Odin, staring at Loki and making very clear that she wasn't going to take his shit just like that.

"It's nothing, really. We'll be a great team."

At that moment, neither of them knew how much truth her words held.

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