It wasn't easy arranging a clandestine raid on another realm while under the watchful eyes of one its denizens. And his girlfriend. But Darcy was determined. She could not live with herself if she didn't at least try to make Odin understand that Loki had truly changed. She wanted the father to see that he had been the cause of some of the terrible things Loki had done.

She snuck texts to Tony Stark whenever she could get a moment away from Thor and Jane's prying eyes. At first, his replies were cautionary. He stuck to his convictions that it wasn't their place to intervene. But Darcy was relentless, and kept challenging him. He was Tony Stark. He'd met the most important people on the planet. He should be meeting with important people in other realms too.

Stark couldn't resist that thought. It stroked his ego too well. He had every right to meet with the All-Father. And if he happened to plead for Loki's release at the same time, well that was just an added bonus.

It still wasn't easy. Fury had been tipped off by Thor to a possible mutiny from the Iron Man, so Tony found himself under close watch. He had to employ every trick he could muster to avoid S.H.I.E.L.D spies, and still keep in touch with Darcy, planning their escape to the Bifrost site in New Mexico. He shamelessly dragged Pepper right into the conspiracy, but she was willing to do anything to help Loki at this point, after the saving of Stark's life.

Pepper had a way of innocently redirecting Coulson and Fury so that they didn't suspect anything. She smiled her guileless little smile, and made her little snarky comments about Stark, keeping suspicion from ever falling upon her shoulders. She was probably the only reason that Stark could continue his secret plans.

Darcy had her own set of plans. She knew that they couldn't crash Asgard, so to speak. Neither she nor Tony had the ability to activate the Bifrost. But she knew, through listening to Thor and Jane, that this guy named Heimlich was the gatekeeper, and he could open the Bifrost. She would plead her case to him at the Bifrost site, the way Thor had when he'd first arrived. She'd stand there and yell for a week, until this Heimlich guy was so tired of hearing her that he'd just give in and open it up. She was relentless that way.

She felt like she had absorbed some of Loki's mischief, because she just couldn't let it go. Loki would never back down from such a challenge. At least, she didn't think he would. When it came to his father, she had very little information.

Thor watched her suspiciously. He had expressed, several times, that he did not trust her sudden compliance. "You strike me as the type to do something rash, Darcy. That would not be wise in this situation."

"What do you know about it, big guy? I'm the poster child for good behavior."

But finally, with Darcy almost frantic with worry the whole time, all the plans came together. Stark's masterfully created diversion, while the billionaire was playing himself in a company meeting, called the Avengers out to duty. As soon as it happened, Pepper texted the all-clear. Stark abandoned his meeting, and picked Darcy up. They were in Stark's private jet ten minutes later, and heading for New Mexico.

"Hope you know what you're doing," Tony kept telling her, as he lounged. "Thor's gonna be pissed."

"He'll get over it," Darcy told him. "I don't care about him right now. All I'm worried about is Loki. Well....and maybe I'm a little worried about getting this Heimlich guy to open the Bifrost for us. But I'm persistant."

The flight to New Mexico took too long, and they had to dodge S.H.I.E.L.D agents once they arrived. But Stark had planned for that as well, and had a diversion to draw them away from the site. It worked remarkably well, and the two conspirators, one now in his Iron Man armor, stood within the Bifrost circle.

"Are you sure about this?" Stark seemed nervous.

"Of course I am. You don't have to go, Tony. I can handle Odin."

"That's mostly what I'm afraid of," he admitted. "War with Asgard would suck, Darcy."

"I won't cause a war as long as I get what I want," she quipped. She stared up at the sky. "Hey there, Heimlich! Hi. I'm Darcy. This is Tony. We'd really like to come up there and talk to Odin. It's about Loki."

"That was impressive."

"Shut up, Tony."

She waited patiently, but nothing happened. Hmm...well, she had said that she would yell for a week. "Uh Heimlich? I'm not going away. I should tell you, I'm the reason Loki came back to Asgard. I feel a pretty big obligation to make sure he's okay. I'm not gonna go away until I get to talk to Odin!"

Still nothing. How irritating. "I get it. You gotta check with the boss man first. I totally understand that. You should probably mention that I'm a friend of Thor's and Thor's girlfriend Jane. Thor is currently hosting a panty raid at the local community college and couldn't be here right now, but he sends his best."

"Darcy!" Stark choked. "What the hell are you saying?"

She shrugged. "Whatever." She tapped her foot. "C'mon Heimlich! I can call you Heimlich, right? Or maybe sounds like Heinylich. Heineken! Woohoo Heineken. Rustle up some brewskies, okay? I just wanna talk!"

"We're gonna die," Stark decided. "If Odin doesn't kill us, Thor will."

"We'll be fine, Tony. People do this all the time." She shot an irritated glare at him. "You could help, you know."

Tony sighed, and looked up, flipping his face plate up. "As a teammate of Thor's, and as one of the most influential men in this realm, I respectfully request an audience with the All-Father."

"Please Heineken?" Darcy added in a small voice.

She almost peed herself when the clouds began to form and swirl. "Shit Tony! Shit! We're going to Asgard! Ohmigod!"

He was strangely calm. "Wasn't that the plan?"

Darcy twitched nervously. "Well yeah, but I didn't really think it would work. I thought he'd blow us off."

Tony flipped his face plate back down. "Had me fooled. I hope this doesn't hurt."

"Shit. I hope mortals can do this without being splattered everywhere."

"Why did you have to say that? What the hell is wrong with you?"

The portal flashed down, and they were engulfed. It was light and wind and a rushing, roaring noise. Darcy wanted to scream, but she had no body to draw a breath. It was like all the little particles of her being had come apart and were shooting in a little Darcy-clump toward Asgard. She'd be shitting her pants, if she had pants. Or bowels. Or anything.

Then it was over. Normality restored itself (thank you Hitchhikers) and Darcy tried to pop her ears, because there was a huge pressure in her head. It ebbed, and she was finally able to look around. They were standing (well, Tony was still swaying) in a big domed room, with a raised dais in the center. A truly huge guy, like the biggest ever, was lifting a really big sword out of a block on top of the dais. Hmmm...sword in the stone myths much?

"Heineken?" she asked softly.

There was a definite chill from the huge guy. "Heimdall," he corrected. "Gatekeeper to Asgard. Loki's mortal folly and her armored paladin have arrived. Escort them to our King."

Tony was tickled, even as they were surrounded by heavily armored guards. "I'm a paladin."

"Get over yourself," Darcy hissed to him.

They were taken, via horseback of all things, from the edge of the world to the sprawling, soaring city. Darcy was gonna have major neck cramps from all the rubbernecking, but this was awesomely cool. It was another mark in her book. Sex with a god – check. Popped said god's cherry – check. Visited city of gold in the heavens – check. Survived the experience....pending.

Asgardians must be compensating for something, she decided. Everything was too big, and too gold and too awesome. Thankfully, Loki didn't suffer from any need to compensate. She briefly wondered about Thor, and decided she'd have to get Jane really drunk before a discussion about the size of Thor's hammer could take place.

They were marched into a giant assembly hall, down steps and across a huge expanse of floor until more steps rose to a central dais. The guards stopped them at the foot of the steps, and drew back a few steps.

Darcy looked up at Odin All-Father for the first time. Not impressed. Sure, he only had one eye, but she was used to Nick Fury by now, so it didn't faze her. He did have pretty kick ass armor, like Thor, but she'd already seen Thor's so that wasn't doing anything for her. He didn't really even give off an aura of being the most powerful being of this realm. He just seemed like a tired, old man.

Tony elbowed her. "Say something."

Darcy swallowed. "Um...hi Odin. Should I call you Odin, or All-Father? Or something else? Rat-bastard comes to mind, but I'm a little upset at the moment." The last was uttered very low, so that no one else heard it. Well, Tony did.

Stark choked again. "A little diplomacy probably wouldn't hurt right now, Darcy." He kept tugging at his suit, forgetting he was wearing the iron one. "Pepper will be very angry if I come home in little pieces."

"You may address me as Odin." The side of his mouth twitched. Darcy wasn't sure why, until he spoke again. "Rat-bastard might incite a riot from my people." Oops. The All-Father might be old, but he had good hearing. He had spoken very softly back to her. She didn't think anyone else had heard it.

"Odin. Okay cool. I'm Darcy, from Earth. Thank you for granting me an audience. That sounds so silly. It's like you handed me a bunch of people who are gonna watch and listen to me. Then again, I guess you did." She glanced around the great hall, filled with Asgardians.

Tony elbowed her again. "Anyhow...I'm Darcy. This is Tony Stark. He's Thor's teammate, and a pretty important guy on Earth. Uh...you have to know why I'm here, right? I was dying, and to save me, Loki needed uru. Thor got it from you in exchange for Loki's surrender."

"That does sum up the situation."

Darcy looked around, to see if she had any support, but it didn't look like Loki had any supporters. Except for the older woman standing at Odin's side. Ah...the mom.

"Thor said you banished Loki to Jotunheim."

"I did."

"I know he did terrible things. But I also know that there was family stuff you told him that kinda blew his mind, and I think that's probably why he did the terrible things. He....he's done awesome things to help people recently. He saved me."

Odin's face wasn't giving anything away. "He was responsible for what befell you."

"But he didn't know that," Darcy argued. "And I would have gotten better, eventually."

Stark finally found his tongue. "He saved my life twice. There wasn't anything in it for him. He actually risked being torn apart by really nasty beings to save me the first time. And he risked being gutted by my teammates the second time, but he did it."

"I need him back," Darcy stated firmly.

Odin didn't look like he was bending. "Why should I do that?"

"He deserves a chance to find a place where he belongs. Earth could be that place."

"He should be left to rot on Jotunheim!" It was the dark haired warrior woman, Thor's friend, whose voice rang out.

Darcy turned to glare daggers at her. "Bitch, please. You're just jealous because you never hopped on the L-train. And let me tell you, you don't know what you're missing." She turned back to Odin. "Your son deserves a chance to shine beside his brother, not walk in his shadow."

"That was beautiful," Stark whispered to her.

The warrior bitch, Sif, wasn't done. "Loki is a monster, and he should be left with the monsters of Jotunheim."

Darcy swiveled to face her again. "Seriously. I'm gonna bitch slap you into next century. Shut your hole."

"That wasn't so beautiful," Stark advised softly.

There was gonna be a fight. Darcy could see it in the curl of Sif's lip. "You would choose to defend the monster? Have you debased yourself with him?"

"Sif!" The mother finally spoke. "Loki is our son, and we love him."

It seemed like the entire hall held it's breath for a moment, but then the warrior woman turned away. She would not go up against Thor and Loki's mother.

Darcy turned back to the parents. "Bring Loki back."

Odin studied her. "If I bring my son back, there is an important lesson that he will not learn. I will not bring him back."

Darcy stared at him, feeling her stomach drop. "That's not gonna work for me." She looked around, considering mayhem. "I....I have no choice but to declare war on Asgard."

"What the hell are you doing?" Tony yelped, as weapons came to a ready all around the great hall, pointing at them.

Odin only looked faintly amused. "I believe we have you outnumbered."

"For now. But there's a lot of us pesky mortals. And we have access to awesome weapons. Stark here is a genius with them. We'll lay waste to this place."

"Shut up!" Poor Tony wasn't quite ready for her Plan B.

But Darcy couldn't be quiet. "Loki makes sense to me. He's the first guy who didn't care that I was a geek-dork and just accepted me like I am. He's the first guy who never made me feel so self conscious that I couldn't speak. Maybe that doesn't mean shit to you, but it's huge to me. It makes me want to wake up in the morning, and that's something that's worth fighting for."

"Beautiful again," Tony noted. "Just keep in mind that we are really outnumbered, and our governments frown upon declarations of war on other realms."

"I don't care, " Darcy snarled back at him. "The governments haven't done shit for me, but Loki has. I'm not letting this go." She glared up at Odin. "Well?"

"I will not bring him back."

"Then send me there. I'll bring him back my damn self. I don't need your help."

The All-Father's expression was like rock. "You? You would go to Jotunheim, mortal girl? The frost giants would tear you apart."

"Only if they catch me," she argued. "Send me there. Let me bring Loki back. That way you don't compromise your stick up the ass ideals." She folded her arms across her chest, ignoring the outraged cries from the gathered Asgardians.

Funny. She'd felt that same chill from the Heineken guy earlier. Odin made a gesture with his hand, and the guards were surrounding them again.

"Oh shit. Oh shit."

"Shut up Tony."

Darcy wasn't sure if she should be terrified or shitting herself as they were taken back to the Bifrost observatory. Tony was swearing colorfully, and heaping promises of punishment on her.

"You tried to declare war on Asgard, Darcy!"

"It's not like I have the power to do that, Tony. Odin knows that. Chill out. You're being such a little girl."

The big guy wasn't happy to see them again. "You will insult Jotunheim with your intrusion," he warned.

Darcy snorted at him. "No doubt. Just make sure you open up quick when I call for the return trip."

"I will do my best. Should Loki betray us once more, that responsibility will fall on your head."

"Won't happen, Heineken dude."

***********************************************************************************************************************************

Jotunheim was cold. And dark. And very scary. Darcy took a moment to orient herself, and wondered how the hell they were going to find Loki before the frost giants found them. Asgardians she could handle. The frost giants, maybe not so much.

"We're gonna die here," Tony decided. "They have to know something came through. We're sitting ducks if we stay here. Where are we supposed to look?"

Everything looked the same. Very cold and very unfriendly. Darcy was freezing already, shivering violently. She'd been dressed for New Mexico, not Antarctica. She hadn't considered that they might be going to Jotunheim. She hadn't really even believed that they'd make it to Asgard.

"I'm not sure," she answered, teeth chattering.

"Are you mad?"

A frost giant with Loki's voice and face came racing over an ice hill toward them. Darcy was intrigued. He didn't really look that different. Just blue. With red eyes. And raised lines on his blue skin. And he was almost naked. Wow. Apparently, going blue released some inhibitions.

He skidded to a halt in front of them, red eyes a little wild. "I can understand it from you, Stark. You are egotistical enough to believe you could do this. But what were you thinking, bringing her here?"

"Whoa!" Tony protested, hands up defensively. "I didn't bring her."

"Bring me?" Darcy was upset. As if she had not instigated all of this. "Bring me? I came on my own, your blueness. I invited Tony to come with me, because I needed his jet to get me to the Bifrost site. What do you think I am? Some helpless female?" She stomped a foot. "I made Odin send me here!"

Loki crossed the distance between them and took her hand in his own. He was cold to touch. The relief she felt welled up from her very core, trying to force freezing tears out of her eyes. He looked weary, and hungry, and there were dark bruises all over his blue skin. But a great weight seemed to be lifting from him.

He bent close to her face. "You are mad to be here, Darcy. There is a hunting party of Jotuns behind me. They will kill us all."

"Nah, not today," she replied cheekily. "We're blowing this popsicle stand." She cocked her head at him. "You're blue."

He drew back warily. "This is my true form."

"Nice. We should probably get out of here." She turned her face to the sky. "Hey Heinekin! Pop us back, okay?"

Loki nearly choked. She'd just called Heimdall a beer? He wasn't sure he wanted to go back to Asgard. "You and Stark were in Asgard?"

"She declared war on your father," Tony said dryly. He clapped a hand to Loki's blue back. "Good to see you in one piece, my lord." Then he froze and removed his hand. "Shit. I only said that to cheer you up, you know. You looked like you needed it. It doesn't mean that I think I'm your minion or anything." He cursed softly and stepped back.

Just before the Bifrost took them, Darcy wormed her way into Loki's side, sliding an arm around his slumping form.

********************************************************************************************************************************************

The great hall of Asgard nearly exploded when Loki came before them in all of his blue awesomeness. They hadn't known of his true heritage, even after his betrayal. But it was clear now.

Darcy was proud of him. Loki walked with complete composure through the tumult, his right arm wound around her shoulders. His mien was princely, and he wore his God of Mischief attitude, although little else. He was deliciously cool to touch in this form, and his skin felt...different. She was liking the almost naked thing.

Loki bowed his head to his father. "You have permitted me to return from my banishment?"

"I have," Odin agreed. "You have spent time among your birth kind, in your natural form. Tell me your thoughts of them."

"They are a pitiable and weak race," Loki answered, ignoring the mocking calls from those gathered. "Pitiable because there is no enjoyment in their lives. Weak because they will never know the strength of friendship and love. They dwell in the ice, but the ice dwells within them – cold and brittle." He looked up at his father. "How long was I there?"

"Two weeks," Darcy answered. "Two long weeks."

He looked down to her. "Two weeks? It seemed so much longer." He lifted his head to meet his father's eyes again. "What will you do with me now?"

"I release you," Odin answered. "You have learned more than I had hoped. You have recognized your own capacity for love and friendship. You have inspired others to risk their very lives for yours. I do not yet understand you, my son, but I will try." He inclined his head toward Darcy. "It has been suggested that you have found a place for yourself amongst the mortals."

"I believe that I have. I would return to Midgard."

Odin sighed deeply. "So be it." He rapped Gungnir on the floor, and a gentle light stole out to envelope Loki. Darcy shivered as it tingled over her, but when it whisped away into vapor, she saw Loki shifting to the form she was used to seeing. And there was a lot of it to see.

"I like this look," she told him. "Bare. Bold."

He smiled his not-quite smile. "You would." Then his expression hardened and he looked back up at his father. "You sent two mortals to Jotunheim, father. They could have been killed. These two are under my protection. I will not look kindly upon a repeat of those actions."

A shocked hush fell upon the great hall. Even Darcy was a little shocked. But she had to speak up. "He didn't send us, Loki. I made him send us. I didn't do all this to get sent home without you. I did it to find you and save you. Because you saved me. I couldn't let it go. Don't blame Daddy for that. I take full responsibility."

He turned to her. "Why Darcy? Why risk your life? I would have been fine."

"Maybe the same reason you did the same thing for me. I would have been fine. Why did you risk your life to bring me back?" She squeezed him. "Because. Let's let it go at that for now." She grinned. "I like the whole 'protective of my mortals' routine. It gave me tingles."

"Me too," Stark chimed in. He flipped his face plate up. "Can we get out of here now? The longer we stick around, the more likely Darcy is to cause an incident." He cringed. "Although we just might get slaughtered when we return."

Between one blink and the next, Loki was wearing clothes again. "Father. We will return to Earth. My thanks for giving me the chance to redeem myself." He bowed deeply, and turned sharply, cloak flaring. Darcy bit back a giggle at the theatrics.

"Nice meeting you, All-Father sir," Stark called over his shoulder, as Loki ushered them from the great hall. "I can't believe I went all tongue tied around him. Geez Loki. How did you deal with that, growing up?"

"Poorly, minion. Were you not paying attention?" Loki smirked. "How much trouble will you two be in when we return?"

"Heaps," Darcy admitted. "Your silver tongue better be loose and ready to go."

"Why Darcy...that sounds like an invitation."

She bit her lip at his completely evil smile. "Now you're just making me wet."

"Too much information, you guys!" Stark snapped.

They managed to make it to the Bifrost without any further incidents. Heimdall did not try to hide his satisfaction that they were leaving.

"Asgard will rest easier tonight, knowing that you have returned to Midgard. Know that I will watch you."

"And know that I can cloud your vision whenever I choose, gatekeeper." Loki's smile was almost feral. "Farewell."

Darcy was tickled to feel his arm wrap around her shoulders again, as the Bifrost activated. There was a whole shit-storm waiting for them when they got back, but it was worth every second of it.

♾️ ♾️ ♾️

Ya guys know what? I LOVE DARCY. LMAO, HEINEKIN.

You guys, go read "Groot" in my profile. It's Groot's whole life in his perspective. Unknown secrets and events. It's one hell of a ride just go cheggit out. It's worth it.

Love,
InfinityHaze ♾️