Disclaimer: Thor and its respective characters belong to Marvel Universe and its creators. This plotline, however, belongs to me.

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Mischief Unmanaged

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Chapter 1

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The silent mind wandered cryptically, leaving no trace of its presence. The air remained undisturbed with the swift steps, a calamity of thoughts rampaging through neurons that fired with trepidation. Stealth was second nature; subtlety a craft that he perfected through the dry and odious years on Asgard. He mastered the façade of monotony, deceiving any passersby foolish enough to glance his way.

He was aware of it all—the stares, the laughter, the sorrow, the unhealed melancholy that so mirrored his own. Midgardian or Asgardian—the emotions remained the same. And he watched them. Ever so silently.

A gleaming smile shot in his direction almost prompted his own to stretch up in return, a force of habit that he must put an end to. There was no need for it anymore. The pretending. There was no one here to fool, and he rather liked that.

The woman who smiled at him began to grin as a male approached her, and she slung her arm familiarly through his. He watched passively as they conversed, and felt grateful that his fall through the wormhole did not rip him of his abilities. He was thankfully invisible to the mortal eye, his veins still coursing with magic. She had not smiled at him, really.

He passed by a clothing shop and paused in front of the glass. Allowing his form to waver slightly, he stared back at his reflection. Blood was stained on the side of his face from the impact of his fall to this realm, his armor slightly skewed and hair no long slicked back in place and coming in to his eyes.

A flash of anger coursed through him, tearing at his mind viciously until his eyes narrowed and he wrapped himself in his magic again, his reflection disappearing. His strides grew faster, purpose in his step. He was lost no longer—he was not struggling for acceptance. He knew who he was.

The man and woman were still ahead of him, and his eyes latched onto the woman. She smiled up at the man with an emotion akin to drunken stupor. Was this what his foolish older brother had adhered to with that brown-haired scientist? Was this the reason he had changed his ways, making him the ever shining and perfect son to Odin?

He watched them disgust, but slowly a smile began curling his lips.

Oh, yes. Loki Odinson had a plan.

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"Would you like some more wine? You seem a little thirsty," the man across from her smiled dazzlingly. She could almost see the imaginary sparkle spin on a tooth.

Darcy shifted slightly in her seat, glancing about the restaurant and shooting an almost wistful look at the exit.

Bad, Darcy! Look at your date!

Her eyes unwillingly traveled back to the man sitting in front of her in the booth, a ridiculous smile still on his face. Darcy mirrored it halfheartedly, running a hand through her hair. "I'm good, Dale."

He leaned in closer, his eyes dancing, and Darcy tried very hard not to roll her eyes as he said in a deep voice, "In that case…are you ready to head out? I could show you my neutrino data archive. Jane's been on me for weeks about it, but I thought I'd give you the first look."

Oh, Jane. Bless her heart. She had good intentions, but Dale was definitely the worst of them, and Darcy was yet again feeling silly for taking up her suggestion of going to dinner with him.

Darcy looked at Dale with a slight smile and a shrug. "Sorry, dude. I have class in the morning. You know, still in college and everything. But thanks. Really, maybe some other time." Muttering under her breath, she added, "A very, very long time."

The smile did not shrink on his face, and he nodded in acquiescence as his eyes flickered for the hundredth time below her neck. A spark of annoyance flared inside her. Seriously? This was getting a bit old now.

Wordlessly Darcy slid out of the booth and Dale followed suit. He began put on his jacket, and reached through his pockets. "Oh, damn," he groaned, frantically patting down his coat.

"What's up?"

"My wallet," he muttered, glancing up helplessly. "I think I might've forgotten it."

He had to be joking. Darcy blinked and glanced at the bill before cringing. Eighty effing big ones. Fifteen of those belonged to her, courtesy of the very delicious but generously inexpensive fish fillet she had ordered.

"I'm sorry," he apologized in what she supposed was a sincere tone. Darcy gave a small smile before shrugging. "Whatever. No biggie. I'll just have to skip lunch and dinner for the next three weeks," she attempted a joke, but inside knew there was some truth in it.

"Does Jane not pay you enough?" asked Dale with a frown.

"Uhhh I don't get paid at all. Research program, remember? I was the only applicant. And, you know, college has me piss poor. Sorry, bad language, I know. Just get the car in the front, will you? I'll pay this."

He nodded gratefully and disappeared, leaving Darcy staring at the bill with a heavy heart. Sighing, she grabbed her purse off the table and sifted through it, praying she brought a little extra cash with her. She sifted through the dollar bills, counting under her breath. She froze, squeezing her eyes shut.

Seventy-five dollars. Damn.

Fishing them out, she placed the money onto the table and then dug inside her purse, hand groping around until she felt a cylindrical paper roll. "Sorry mister quarters," she said wistfully to the half-used roll of quarters. "Looks like bus fare is out of the question for a while."

The roll was left with three quarters by the time she was done counting, and she placed the change as quietly and neatly on the table as possible. God, this was sad. Darcy glanced around, taking some relief in the fact that everyone else was too preoccupied with their own meals to take note of the girl paying with change.

She shifted on her feet, wondering why she even bothered wearing heels for this guy, and adjusted her skirt before grabbing her own jacket and heading out the restaurant with her head held high. She heard a waiter gasp as a loud series of metallic clangs landed on the floor, causing Darcy to wince and walk a little faster.

Dale's car was parked near the entrance, and she walked briskly towards him. It was dark, and she nearly tripped on a twig in the goddamn red pumps she was wearing, and she could feel that familiar tension building in her shoulders that she knew would burst if this night got any worse.

Breathe, Darcy. It's alright, just a few more minutes…

She reached for the handle and tugged, frowning when it refused to open. She shot Dale a look, and he tilted his head in confusion. She tugged insistently on the handle and finally the data analyst understood and unlocked the door.

Just a simple locking mistake. Happens all the time on newer cars. Automatic locks and whatnot. Darcy breathed in deeply and glanced at Dale.

"Let's go."

"To your place?" he asked. She smiled and nodded.

"Yep. I—" Her words stopped in her throat. Her eyes lingered at the cup holders between them behind the gear shift.

"Is that your wallet?"

He glanced down and let out a short laugh. "Oh, right! I found it sitting here when I got in the car. Weird, huh?"

Darcy glanced up at him slowly, taking in the wide smile. His eyes moved a fraction down from her face, and instantly Darcy's face heated with anger.

"Change of plans. Take me to Jane's."

The drive down was not silent, thanks to her failed attempt of a date partner. He chattered as he had done all night, twittering about his findings and mockery of society and his impeccable taste of cinema, and Darcy spared him a few thin-lipped smiles, though her eyes remained resolutely on the road, waiting for the turn into Jane's place.

The car slowed and Dale turned off the ignition and turned to her, giving another of those toothy, ridiculous grins. She reached for the door handle before he held his hand up, and bounced out of the car to open the door for her. Perhaps in another situation she would have found it sweet. Unfortunately, tonight was not one of those nights.

"It was nice," she managed to say to him with a perfunctory shrug and a half-smile. So far, so good. The less she talked, the less chance she had at blowing up in his face. He had walked her all the way to the front steps of Jane's house-slash-laboratory, where she could not wait but to barge into and let out angry-Darcy without any further duress.

"Very nice," Dale corrected, taking a step. Was he getting closer to her? Fuck. The door was right behind her, nowhere to run. The taser was in her purse, but that required arm movement to get it out. She gave him a blank stare.

"Nope, just nice. I'll see you around, Dale." She moved to the side, giving her a few grateful inches away from him, allowing her access to her purse as she fished out her keys. She heard Dale sigh a little resignedly, and Darcy felt bit bad. Dale was an idiot, but he was harmless. No need to awaken the taser tonight.

Or so she thought.

She was just about to put the keys inside the lock when she was spun around, hand on her arm and waist, and lips pressing sloppily and insistently against hers. Her eyes widened as Dale moved closer to her, trying to push her back against the adjacent wall. It took a few moments for her to realize what in the nine levels of hell was going on.

And when she did, angry-Darcy was finally released.

Her knee shot up and hit the jackpot, and she felt the bastard groan in pain against her mouth before she violently pushed him away. He staggered and tripped down the front steps, landing unceremoniously on his back with a howl of pain.

"Ag—Darcy!"

"If you EVER try to throw yourself on me like that again, you will lose all ability of procreation for the rest of your life!" Darcy yelled, anger coursing through her. She marched down the front steps and bent down to grip him by the collar, and tugged him viciously to meet her eyes. "To think I felt bad for thinking about using my taser on you—I should have tased your ass the tenth time those beady eyes of yours looked at my chest!"

"But—"

Darcy wasn't finished. "I gave it a shot when you spent the last three hours talking about yourself. Hell, I thought I was damned polite, and I even put up with your 'losing your wallet'—which, by the way…" She let go of his collar like it was diseased and marched to his car and threw open the door. Reaching inside, she grabbed his wallet and looked inside. "Would you look at that. Five hundred in cash. Cash. You're a real flooz, you know that? You could've come inside to help. But fuck, whatever. Bygones, bygones. This could be an angle at a feminist movement, which I totally am for—but for fuck's sake, I have shit for money and you flake out on me? Seriously?"

Darcy threw the wallet back inside with disgust and strode back to Dale, who was decidedly in a fetal position. Something like whimpering was coming out of his mouth. Darcy rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, it wasn't even that hard." She grabbed his arms and with a little struggling, got him to his feet and practically threw him in his car. Brushing herself off, she peered through the window. "Now. You will never call me again. You will never speak to me unless it is work related. We will forget tonight ever happened, and your eyes—" she slapped his head slightly so that he looked at her face, "—will always be up here. Got it?"

He nodded dumbly. Darcy sighed. "Go home. Put some ice on that. Try not to be such a douche the next time you take a girl out." He nodded again, and Darcy rolled her eyes. "You start by putting your keys in ignition."

Dale immediately started to fumble with his keys, and after three tries he managed to put the right key in. Darcy stepped away as he reversed out and turned around before his car zoomed quickly away. She wondered briefly if it was safe to drive hunched over like that, but at that point, she did not have it in her to care.

She threw the door open to Jane's house and slammed it closed, locking it absent-mindedly. "Jane!"

Throwing her keys on the coffee table, Darcy shrugged off her black cardigan and headed into the kitchen. "Jane, I need some serious girl-girl time, here! The date you set me up with was a total fail!"

Kicking off the ridiculously high heels, Darcy opened the door to the freezer while turning on the light. "I hope you stocked up on Ben and Jerry's. I'm foreseeing a four-quart ice cream-a-thon. Or should I just say gallon-a-thon? 'Cause, you know. Four quarts in a gallon and everything."

Her eyes caught sight of a tub of red velvet ice cream, and a grateful smile graced her lips.

"Seriously, Jane. You are a goddess." She heard light footsteps on the stairs, and sighed in relief. About time. She grabbed a spoon from a drawer and attempted to jab her way through the frozen treat, but frowned when it refused to budge. Gritting her teeth, she pushed the spoon in harder and yelped in surprise when it flicked upwards, sending a glob of pink ice cream onto her blouse.

"Damn! I got Ben and maybe a little bit of Jerry on my shirt. Very pink. Ah, hell, I can't say I didn't expect it after the absolute crapola date I just got back from." Setting the spoon down, she quickly unbuttoned her blouse and bunched it together in one hand. The spoon had a little bit of velvety goodness on it, so with a shrug Darcy grabbed it and stuck it in her mouth. Her eyes nearly rolled at the blast of awesome onto her taste buds.

Darcy heard the tile creak, and turned around to give Jane a proper come-here-and-hug-me-I'm-sad shindig, but promptly froze when she saw who was standing behind her.

"You're not Jane," she said dumbly, the spoon still in her mouth effectively warbling her words.

She glanced down at herself, realizing her blouse was in her hands and she was currently just in her bra and skirt. Not even a modest bra; she had went all out sexy with green and black lace, in hopes of getting some late night action. Bad move, Darcy.

Her eyes landed on the purse on the counter beside her, and wondered if she stood a chance. Then she glanced at the towering man before her, eyes seemingly just as wide as hers.

Screw it.

Her hand reached slowly into her purse and took out her taser. She was a little surprised that he had not moved yet. "Sorry dude. You're creeping me out." Her arm pointed at his chest and fired.

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When Loki arrived in New Mexico in search of the brown-haired beauty that his idiotic brother became smitten with in this realm, he made sure he was well-adjusted for the task at hand. He transformed his Asgardian attire to the common mortal male's clothing, and appeared in front of the astrophysicist's house at night where stealth was most efficient. In all honesty, this was just the warm-up of his grand plan. A teaser, a bit of fun, really. Harassing and scaring the mighty Thor's woman? Perfection.

Heimdall was watching above, he knew well. Loki only wished he could see the look of fury on that overbearingly blond and tanned face of Thor as Heimdall told him how Loki had scared the girl to tears.

Finally the girl arrived. It was late into the night, and Loki could not help but scoff at the Midgard customs. It was not tolerated for a lady to be seen outside without an escort, let alone remain in the late hours of the evening at Asgard, except the Lady Sif. A case of loose Midgardian morals, it seemed.

The thought struck him, and a devilish smile curled his lips. Perhaps that was not such a bad thing after all.

He was upstairs, roaming the hallway with boredom when the door slammed open. "Jane!" he heard a female voice call loudly, and a frown formed on Loki's face. Slowly he sauntered down the stairs. The girl kept shouting things that confused him. He was quite certain, however, that this was not Thor's woman.

"Seriously, Jane. You are a goddess."

Goddess? He did not know Midgard held gods and goddesses as well. Not in the years he had traveled here, nor in any teachings his parents had given him as a young boy. What did this woman know that even the great Allfather did not?

He could see the girl now in the kitchen. She had long, chocolate brown hair in loose curls that tumbled down her back. Her bare back. She was scrunching her shirt in her hand, saying something about some Benjamin and Jeremiah. Ah, the loose morals he was musing about before. This would take some getting used to.

And then she turned around, and Loki found himself staring at the oddest creature in the entire realm.

Everything about her was exaggerated. Eyes and lips too big for her face. Breasts too large for her frame, hips too wide for her body. Legs partially hidden by shortened skirt that brushed her knees. Everything about her was too much, and it was distracting.

"You're not Jane," she said faintly, a spoon dangling from her mouth, and Loki smiled inwardly. A slow mortal, no less.

She glanced down at herself, and Loki could not help but follow. Her chest bindings were positively sinful—green and black silk holding her up. Green. And. Black.

And then she was reaching into a bag and pointing something mildly threatening towards him. She muttered incoherently and he felt something sink into his clothing. Slight tingles were grazing over Loki's skin, but that was all they were. Frowning, he glanced down at himself and tugged the metal buzzing contraption out of his chest.

He looked up to find the girl staring at him with utmost surprise, her mouth open in shock. He rather liked this girl. She seemed to know her place, and fed his ego extremely well. This was something he could get used to.

Suddenly tormenting Jane was the least important agenda on his list.

"Who are you?" the girl asked cautiously, holding the bunched cloth in her hand over herself. "Are you S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Her eyes darted over him, assessing him thoroughly.

Loki felt a smile tug at his lips. "You look familiar."

The girl narrowed her eyes, her head tilting a little. "You are from S.H.I.E.L.D., aren't you?" Loki continued to smile pleasantly, and the girl gave a sigh of relief. "Goddamn, you guys need to work on your people skills! You're hella lucky I've got an eye for this now. I can tell just by your spiffy suits that you're with that Coulson dude." She paused to look at his chest. "Sorry about tasing you, by the way. You must have some kickass jacket underneath that tie. Kind of like Batman in Batman Begins."

He frowned at the foreign references, and watched the girl turn back around and lift a carton of food. "So you're here for Jane?"

"I presume she is not with you," Loki replied slowly, green eyes observing her every movement.

"I thought she would be. I needed some serious venting time tonight, but she's probably with Selvig somewhere unlocking the mysteries of the universe. Without me. Whatever though, I had a date and was excused. But still!" she whirled around, pointing a frosty spoon in his direction. "If it's this important, they should've given me a call!"

"They sound like fickle friends," Loki said quietly, taking a step closer.

"Nah, they're just really into their stuff. I get why I'm sort of the last thing on their minds. Political Science majors don't generally know things about Einstein…rosy bridges. Or something like that."

The girl had shrugged into the blouse again out of a semblance of modesty, and Loki was almost sad to see the green and black lace go. She held a cart of ice cream in one hand and a spoon in the other, and approached him purposefully.

"So, you got my ipod yet?" she looked up at him expectantly, and he took note of the generous height difference. Ego stroke number two.

"Your…"

"Ipod. You know, the one you guys confiscated from me a while ago? Still waiting for it to show up. Sooner better than later."

He stared at her. His eyes remained fixed on hers until she began to shift uneasily under his gaze. "Um…you're kind of freaking me out. I told you Jane wasn't here. I think you should go—"

"You talk incessantly for such a tiny mortal," said Loki, and the girl's eyes widened comically.

"…Mortal?"

Loki smiled. He had seen its effect before, but nothing like this. The spoon in her hand trembled slightly and he saw the girl's frame shudder slightly, goosebumps rising on the flesh of her arms. So beautifully, wonderfully fearful of him. Yes.

"Oh shit," she whispered, taking a step back.

She blinked and suddenly felt a firm body pressed against her back.

Loki bent down and whispered in her ear, "I think you meant 'Oh God'."

A blanket of darkness descended over her consciousness, raucous laughter filling the air.

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And chapter one is complete! This is much, much shorter than I usually do, but I don't plan on having this more than a few chapters. Honestly, this will probably end up a two-shot. I'd give this more attention, but sadly I have 3 other stories to finish up for Harry and 2 more on my sister account.

I got into Darcy x Loki about two and a half weeks ago, and read almost every story on here that I could. It is such a wonderful pairing, one that I had not initially given much thought, but now that I discovered it I could not do it a disservice by not writing a fanfiction for it!

Also, I am beta-less. Working on that. So if you see something out of place, I apologize beforehand.

Don't be shy to tell me what you thought so far!