The Avengers were mobilizing for their 'subdue Loki' plan. It was painful to hear them talk about it. Darcy knew it was painful for them too, but they weren't dating him. Although Thor was his brother and Tony was his adopted brother. But still, she was dating the God of Mischief, and didn't want to hear a bunch of super powered or scarily talented individuals talking about how to bring him down.

So she moved several steps away and studied the chaos around them. S.H.I.E.L.D was kicking some major ass, but there were a lot of crazy fanatics in the compound. And at least one out-of-his-mind Asgardian-raised sorcerer god who was lashing out at anyone who got near him, crazy fanatics included. That had caused a few strained chuckles when a handful of said fanatics had been tossed through the air by a shrieking Loki.

Tony had been right. Loki seemed to have lost the ability to speak and everyone was his enemy.

Coulson joined her, looking impossibly clean and unruffled. Darcy glanced at him, did a double-take at his appearance, and then raised an eyebrow when she saw a spot of blood on the sleeve of his suit.

Coulson followed her gaze and sighed, shaking his head. "Careless. It was very careless of me. Normally I'm more precise."

Darcy said the only thing that came to her mind. "You're scary."

Coulson thought about it and then nodded. "I have been told that before. We should be wrapping this up shortly though. Not bad for a day's work."

Her mouth dropped open. "So, the insane god and the magically protected portal aren't going to give us any trouble?"

The agent shook his head. "Minimal. This operation is in the bag."

Darcy wondered if he existed in the same plane of reality as everyone else. "Oh...kay."

She watched the heroes break formation and scatter, heading toward the large building where Loki was throwing one very impressive fit. She had heard part of the plan, and it involved distractions from the heavy hitters: Iron Man, Thor and Hulk, secondary distractions from Captain America and Black Widow, and the real strike would come from Hawkeye. He had a paralyzing dart arrowhead that had been successfully tested on the Asgardians. While the other Avengers would distract Loki, Hawkeye would find a hidden spot and take him down.

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

It wasn't going well. Darcy could have predicted as much, but no one had asked her. Loki, regardless of his rather tenuous grip on sanity at the moment, was the master of trickery, deceit, and misdirection. Hawkeye had been flushed from cover almost immediately, and went down not long after with a concussion after being hit by an uprooted tree. The other five couldn't get near enough to Loki to subdue him.

Thor had tried. But Loki unleashed was more than a match for his brother. The God of Mischief contemptuously swatted aside all strikes from Mjolnir and sent several sizzling attacks back toward his brother. Thor was beginning to tire.

Tony had to be exhausted with all the evading he had done, but he was still trying. He wouldn't give up, because Loki hadn't given up on him, even after having an entire office full of furniture and decorations thrown at him.

Darcy couldn't see the Hulk, but could hear his roars. Even the big guy sounded tired.

Natasha was nowhere to be seen. She had pulled Barton out of the fight zone around Loki, and that was the last Darcy had seen of her.

Another blistering magic strike lit the sky. Darcy squinted, and saw Thor being tossed through the air. Loki didn't seem to be tiring at all, but then again, he was being driven by something, so would probably keep going until he collapsed.

She watched the Hulk make one of his prodigious leaps into the air. It took a moment to realize that the big guy was jumping away from the battle. Which didn't make any sense at all, since the Hulk would never really back down.

It seemed like everyone else realized it before she did. Fury's eye widened, and he started making hurried gestures. "Everyone move!"

Coulson realized Darcy was oblivious, and tried to reach her, but it was too late. Hulk landed with an earthshaking thud right in front of her. Darcy gasped, eyes wide. The big green guy looked exhausted, and calculating? It was almost as if some of Banner's mind was coming through. This was only the second time Darcy had been so close to Hulk, and after seeing what he had done so far, she was a little frightened.

The green guy took a lumbering step forward. "Fix evil god," he told her. Then, before any of the S.H.I.E.L.D agents that were slowly approaching could reach then, he reached out and snatched Darcy around the waist. She shrieked at the top of her lungs at the sudden jerk of motion, and found herself clutched to Hulk's chest. The big guy growled at the approaching agents, and leaped into the air, back toward the battle.

Darcy missed her stomach. It was still on the ground somewhere as they shot into the air. Before this was all over, she was going to have a nice, long puke. She had earned it today.

Hulk landed in the middle of a scorched sphere of ground, in between Loki and the other Avengers. It took Darcy's eyes a second to stop tearing up, and then she was able to see. Once she could, she wished that she hadn't.

Loki's armor was torn, twisted in places, and in a general state of disrepair. Loki himself was blank. There was nothing there other than blind hatred and rage. As Tony had said – Loki was a howling psychopath. His eyes held no recognition of anything around him. She wanted to cry.

Hulk held her up so that Loki could see her. He lifted his free arm and made a fist, pulling it up over Darcy's head. There was no doubting the big guy's intentions. He intended to smash her. Darcy whimpered, and found the Hulk's face inches from her own. He growled and shook her, and then, very quietly for him, repeated his earlier statement. "Fix evil god."

For a second, Darcy was full of wonder. Then the Hulk's face bunched up and he roared, spittle flying, and reared back, fist reaching its apex over his head. Darcy screamed and closed her eyes.

There was a sound like a bug zapper, and a blast of air and heat. Darcy felt Hulk stagger back a step, but he wasn't done threatening her. He shook her like a rag doll again and roared. Darcy could feel the looming shadow of his other fist, ready to smite her.

A solid thunk she felt down to her bones (again!) shook the Hulk, and Darcy felt his hand open as she started to fall. She managed to get her eyes open just as she landed in someone's arms. She looked up to thank whoever had caught her and froze. She wasn't sure if she had just exited the frying pan and fallen into the fire, or salvation.

Loki up close did not look (or smell) well. His hair was in greasy, tangled snarls, there was dark, bruised-looking skin around his eyes, and his eyes themselves seemed to be windows into hell. It made Darcy's heart clench, seeing him like that. It also made her a tiny bit fearful, because she wasn't sure what would happen now. It seemed unlikely that he had saved her from the Hulk only to kill her.

"Hey handsome," she greeted softly. "You having a bad day?"

He stared down at her with those chilling, tortured eyes. Was there a flicker of recognition in them? There had to be something, because he'd saved her from Hulk for some reason.

It was making the Avengers very nervous, Darcy could tell. Natasha had materialized out of wherever she had been sneaking, and was standing closest, cautiously ready to react. Steve's shield was held loosely in a one handed grip on the edge, ready to be thrown. Thor had this wounded expression on his face, and Darcy felt bad. The God of Thunder probably wished that he had been able to garner some sort of reaction from his brother. But he shouldn't be too surprised. There were deep, emotional wounds between the brothers, and although they were making huge steps toward easing those wounds, it would be a work in progress for some time yet.

Tony was back on the ground, and had flipped his faceplate up. He also looked cautious, but hopeful as well. And Hulk? The big green guy stood some distance away, bark and leaves still on his side from where Loki had hit him with a tree. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he actually looked smug. That was interesting.

Someone moved a step closer, and Loki's eyes narrowed, head whipping up to focus on the Avengers. Darcy felt him loosen a hand, and also felt a growing heat at her back. Taking a chance, she reached up to lay a hand on his cheek, and turn his gaze back down toward her.

"No," she said firmly. "They are your friends, and they're very worried about you."

He frowned, brow wrinkling as he stared down at her. He was trying to remember, to fight past whatever fog was in his head, keeping him from himself. His head titled lightly, leaning further into her touch.

"Do you remember me?" she asked, voice breaking a little.

He titled his head away from her hand, still eerily silent but focused on her. Remembering her wasn't the problem, Darcy knew suddenly. She captured his face between both hands and stared hard at him. "Do you remember you?"

Loki's entire body shuddered, which answered her question. Darcy nodded. "You're locked away from yourself, and everything seems strange to you."

In the midst of the ongoing battle with the crazy fanatics, surrounded by leery Avengers and being held in the arms of a possibly crazy god, Darcy just talked to him. She started at the beginning, telling him of how she had first heard of him, then how they had met. She talked until her mouth was beyond dry, trying to bring him back to himself.

Loki was fighting hard against something in his head. His eyes had long since squeezed shut, and the shudders in his body were becoming more pronounced. Darcy was barely aware of everyone but Natasha breaking away to clean up the fanatics. The Black Widow stayed, watching thoughtfully, but no longer with the caution she had before.

"You gave Fandral a set of boobs for me," she reminded in a bone-dry voice. "And you threatened him several times, warning him away from me. That gave me warm fuzzies, you know. No one has ever done that kind of thing for me. No one ever felt strongly enough to care. Please come back, Loki."

He dropped to his knees, face contorting in a pained grimace as he continued to fight. Darcy was alarmed, really alarmed, to see blood dripping from his nose. Actually, she was downright scared. The thought that someone had been strong enough to blockade Loki's mind wasn't a pleasant one. Odin blocking his magic was one thing. Odin had raised him, and was Loki's father figure. The fact that someone who was most likely a stranger was able to block off portions of Loki's memory...it gave her chills.

A strange reverberation moved through the air, humming under Darcy's skin. All the hairs on her body stood up and bumps broke out on her skin. "Loki please, we need you. I think they just activated the portal!"

He snarled, releasing his hold on her to clasp his head in both hands. Darcy tumbled a few inches to the ground and sprang to her feet. "C'mon! Thor would have beaten this by now!" she cried in desperation, knowing how much he hated being second best.

His angered shout rang through the air, and Loki dropped to the ground, shaking. Little convulsive movements along his entire body must have been painful, but he did not utter a sound, arms clutched around his knees. He was rocking slightly in his fetal position, and slowly, oh so slowly, the muscle tremors ceased.

Darcy took one step forward, to go to him, but froze as he slowly uncurled and propped himself up with his hands.

"That was low," he told her in a cracking voice. "And mean."

The relief she felt was so intense that Darcy was in actual pain. She fell to her knees beside him. "It worked though, didn't it?" She reached out and touched his face hesitantly as he looked up at her. He looked...young, weak, and uncertain in that moment, but like Loki once again instead of the mindless creature he'd been.

"It did work. Did I hear you right? The portal has been activated?"

"I think so."

"Help me stand."

Natasha was there suddenly, lending a hand up as well. With their help, Loki pulled himself rather painfully to his feet. "There is something terribly important I have forgotten," he warned in a raspy voice. "Something I must remember."

Darcy felt energy crackling along her shoulders that wasn't coming from him. "Okay. But first, the portal?"

He nodded, walking unsteadily between them with an arm slung over both of their shoulders. Crazy mindless Loki had took its toll on his body, it seemed. But his spirit was intact, judging from the warm smile he sent her way.

The portal was huge. She hadn't gotten a good look at it before, not really, when in the Quinjet. It stood several stories high, and looked like nothing more than a giant mixer. There was the base, with stabilizing beams extending out on the ground. The primary column ran up and then curled out into an extending arm. A giant circle of metal, secured at the top on the tip of the arm and at the bottom on one of the supporting beams, was spinning rapidly, creating the optical illusion of a sphere, crackling with arcane power.

Darcy could see Thor near the portal, which was beginning to glow with a haze of red energy surrounding it, tossing Mjolnir against the magical barrier in vain. The God of Thunder was clearly frustrated, and shouting until spittle flew from his mouth.

They drew to a halt near the portal, watching as Thor once again hurled Mjolnir with no effect. Loki drew himself up painfully. "How many times must I tell you, Thor, that there are some things which brute force will not conquer?"

Thor snarled. "I have no time for your silver tongue, brother."

"Uh, Thor," Tony tried to interject, but the big guy plowed on.

"When this portal becomes completely active, the aliens will come through. Instead of being cute, Loki, why not help me?"

"Um...Thor?" Tony tried again.

Loki smirked tiredly. "That is what I am here for, Thor."

The God of Thunder seemed to finally realize that his brother was no longer the howling maniac he'd been. His head whipped around to stare at Loki, and a smile broke out on his face. "It is good to have you back, brother. I see that Darcy was able to talk you back to yourself." A slight shadow crossed his face, but then he forced the smile wider. "Darcy is quite the talker, I suppose."

Wow. It seemed that Loki wasn't the only one who sought approval from his brother. For a second, Darcy felt bad, and she could see Loki's eyebrows go up. "Actually Thor, what brought him back was when I told him that you would have overcome the control already." Darcy smiled at Thor's open mouthed expression. "It seems nothing inspires him more than a little friendly brotherly competition."

Fandral, who had joined the Avengers at the portal along with the other three Asgardian protectors, laughed heartily. "Nothing drives Loki more," he confirmed. "That was a masterful idea, Lady Darcy. Truly, you are well suited as the God of Mischief's chosen one." The blond peered up at the portal. "My prince, can you tear down the magical barrier guarding this device?"

Loki inclined his head. "It would be my pleasure." He looked to either side. "Ladies. It would be prudent for you to step away at this point."

Darcy and Natasha took a step back. Loki's hands began glowing green, and that green shot out toward the portal. It clashed with a barrier of red tint. Loki wasn't out for an all-out battle against the barrier, though. His magic twined itself into a tiny bore and delved inward, creating one weak spot.

There was a muted cheer when those gathered saw the green pierce the barrier. Loki's answering grin was grimly triumphant, and he flexed his hands. The green bore expanded itself, pushing the hole in the barrier wider and wider. It was not without effort, as sweat broke out on Loki's pale face. He was swaying where he stood, but shook his head when Darcy took a step forward.

"Thor, Tony, Steve – strike at the portal now," he commanded, teeth clenched in concentration.

There was a brief discussion between the three Avengers, and then Mjolnir, Captain America's shield, and an Iron Man missile streaked through the hole in the barrier to strike the portal near the tip of the extending arm. The thing rang like a giant bell. Nearly everyone present clapped their hands over their ears, and some fell to the ground as the sound rang in their bones.

The spinning metal circle began to wobble, off center. Loki's eyes snapped wide open. "We are too close!" he cried. "Back! Everyone back!"

Everyone scattered. Thor, taking in his brother's swaying form, scooped him up in his arms, much to Loki's disgust, and then turned and ran. Darcy ran with them, beside Natasha, as they sought to get out of harm's way.

They made it safely out of the danger zone, and watched as the huge metal circle fell to the ground, breaking into several pieces as it did so and sending up a billowing cloud of dust. The ground trembled and heaved for a few seconds, and everyone gathered was blind for a few moments until the dust settled.

"You certainly know how to make a comeback," Tony congratulated Loki as he landed on the ground. Running in the Iron Man suit was out of the question, and unnecessary. He looked a bit smug at not being out of breath like others.

Darcy's man sniffed in mock disdain. "Of course. Thor put me down. I am not a child to be toted around." Then, taking in the somewhat tremulous smile on his brother's face, Loki sighed deeply. "I have not thanked you for coming after me ahead of the others, abandoning your teammates. Or for carrying me to safety. Thank you."

Thor set him gently on the ground. "I will always come for you, my brother." Then he frowned. "However, if you once again turn such a dirty trick against me, I will pound you."

Loki grinned tiredly, swaying. "But Thor, it is so easy to fool you." He was at his mischievous best, trying to look too cute so that no one would believe any ill of him.

Darcy watched the God of Thunder shift awkwardly on his feet. "I know that I am not nearly as smart as you, Loki. It would be nice not to be reminded of that all the time." Thor actually looked pathetic, and Loki blinked thoughtfully at him.

"You are right, of course. You have made the effort to stop reminding me that I am not as fierce a warrior as most. I shall do the same."

Stark grinned. "Awe. Feel the love flowing between my brothers. Seriously though, where is the puppet master? Someone had to shield that portal magically. Who was it?"

Darcy moved to Loki's side as he swayed yet again. "Let's just get out of here," she suggested, slipping an arm around him.

Loki shook his head. "No Darcy. Tony is right. Someone was able to overpower me and bind me from myself." He growled. "There is something terribly important that I must remember!" He leaned heavily against Darcy, eyes turned inward as he tried to remember what was so important.

"Oh no," Tony warned. "The last time he looked like that, he was 'turned inward' for hours. Let's go! He can keep thinking on the flight home."

Everyone felt the same way, judging by all the faces surrounding them, so Darcy nodded her agreement. S.H.I.E.L.D left a contingent of agents to wrap things up, and everyone else headed for the Quinjets. They were short one, due to Darcy and Hill's hijinks, but still had plenty of room because of the agents being left behind.

Darcy had never seen Loki turned inward like this. He reacted to outside stimuli as though he were catatonic, obeying commands, or allowing himself to be moved, but unresponsive to any questions or comments directed his way. Tony and Thor seemed to taking it in stride, but she didn't like it.

"Does he do this often?" she asked Thor.

The God of Thunder shook his head. "Not often, but when he needs to think intensely on something. Our mother took him to the healers the first time it happened. He can be brought out of it, if necessary, but it is best to allow him to finish in his own time." Thor offered a weary smile. "It may help him calm himself."

That was a good point. Darcy had expected more anger from him, but then again, he was most likely exhausted. When he regained some energy...she wouldn't want to be the puppet master. Loki didn't like being used. Well, no one did, really, but when the one being used is a sorcerer god, things could get interesting.

The flight back to New York was quiet. Everyone was tired from the battle. Darcy was both worried, and increasingly in pain from her Quinjet adventure. She sat next to Loki, half lidded eyes fixed on him. Thor sat on the other side of his brother, head titled back and eyes closed. He was very tired, a condition Darcy did not see him in too often. The Avengers were all tired and in various states of sleep or unconsciousness (Banner and Barton). Darcy seemed to be the only one awake, other than their pilot.

She was worried about Loki. So much so that at first, she did not see the intruder. Gradually, something different intruded on her intense Loki concentration, and Darcy blinked, shook her head, and looked away. An eep of fright escaped her mouth, and brought an instant reaction from everyone else. They all woke, and there was suddenly a flurry of activity as they all noticed the intruder on board.

Natasha was angry. The assassin came awake immediately, saw the intruder, and rolled to her feet, guns drawn, cursing in Russian. Gone was the usual emotionless mask. Anger, and perhaps a little fear, marred her features. She had allowed a stranger to get too close while she slept!

"You are seconds from death," she snarled. "Who are you? How did you get here?"

The man tilted his head to one side inquisitively. He was Asian, with long flowing hair and mustache. He wore robes and armor that looked somewhat like Asgardian clothing, and he was studying them carefully.

"I find myself less than impressed," he finally replied, in an accented voice. "I had expected more from the famous Avengers."

"You're about to have more," Natasha snarled, fingers tightening on the guns' triggers.

Beside Darcy, Loki surged back to consciousness, staring up at the intruder. "You!" he shouted.

The intruder smiled benignly. "Yes. Me. Do you feel humbled yet, adopted son of Asgard?"

Thor surged to his feet, Mjolnir clenched in a white knuckled hand. "You dare mock a Prince of Asgard, stranger?"

The intruder's hands rose toward him, and Thor was flattened against the wall of the Quinjet moments later, held there immobile by an invisible force. It shocked everyone, that the God of Thunder had been so easily overcome by a mortal. Weapons came to the ready, and everyone focused on the intruder. Barton was woozily notching an arrow, and even Banner was beginning to stir. Darcy tried to make herself as small as possible beside Loki. She was at a distinct disadvantage in a fight, if one broke out. She just hoped that the intruder gave Bruce no reason to Hulk while in the Quinjet. She was pretty sure she had used up any 'surviving weird secret government agency jet incidents' luck already today.

"Who are you?" Rogers barked.

"Your future ruler. You may bow or kneel."

Loki was trying to stand. "I told you that I have prior claim. I believe I also told you that this world does not wish to be ruled."

The man inclined his head. "You also told me, adopted son of Asgard, that you would stop me. I think not."

Iron Man's faceplate popped up, and Stark stared hard at the intruder. "I know you," he said suddenly. "Didn't I break up your hokey little criminal ring a few years back? The hair and the mustache weren't as long, and it looks like you got some new threads since then, but yeah. You're still a crazy psychopath."

The head inclined yet again. "Indeed, Mr. Stark. My recruited minion proved that he was unable to match you in wits or power, so it was necessary that I become involved. You owe me a rather large debt."

Darcy didn't know what he meant, but Tony evidently did. "Jarvis – lock down the Tower right now. If Pepper isn't in it, get her into high powered protection immediately!"

The intruder offered a small little smile. "Do you truly think that I can be stopped if I do not want to be?"

"Well, it seemed to work pretty well on your neat little dimensional portal toy, didn't it? Oops, too bad. No mutated Maklu warriors coming to help you take over." Stark jerked a thumb toward Loki. "You should have taken a lesson from his defeat. We don't like alien invaders here on Earth. What did you call yourself when I took you down? The Mandarin, right? How do you expect to impress when the first thing us Americans think of is 'Oh gee, he's an orange'. That won't get you anywhere."

The intruder, the Mandarin, sneered. "Impressing Americans is far from my agenda. One need not impress to rule."

Stark waved his hand. "Blah blah. Did you miss the part where we destroyed your little toy? You don't honestly think you can take over the planet without your scaly green friends, do you? Loki must have been having an off day when he bumped into you, cuz otherwise, he'd wipe the floor with you."

"I have no concerns with the adopted son of Asgard. He will always fall before me. And who said that my scaly green friends are unable to visit? Think on that, Iron Man."

With a pop, he disappeared, even as Loki lunged for him. Darcy bit her lip when her man merely tumbled across the interior of the jet, and rolled to his feet on the other side. When he looked up at everyone, his entire expression was rage.

Before he could say a word, Thor fell off the wall onto the floor with a dull thud that shook the entire jet.

"I want to eat his spleen for breakfast!" the God of Thunder shouted, a phrase he had picked up from Barton. Loki nodded in agreement, and accepted a hand up from Thor, who was already on his feet. Both brothers looked ready to eat spleen.

"I think we all do, at this point," Tony noted. "Jarvis? Pepper?"

"Mrs. Stark is secured within the Tower, sir. She is currently with Ms. Foster. They are in the panic room."

Tony nodded in relief. "Good."

"What did he mean?" Darcy asked suddenly, flinching a little when everyone looked at her. "The Mandarin. He seemed to act like the destruction of the portal was no big thing, and that his warriors could still be used."

"Bluffing," Stark suggested. "I do it all the time. He wants us stressed out."

All eyes turned to Loki as he staggered a few steps and dropped to his knees, head in his hands. Darcy was by his side in a flash. It looked really impressive, but she actually just tripped over her own feet trying to get up too fast, and skidded across the floor on her knees. But she wasn't telling anyone that it hadn't been intentional.

She placed a hand on Loki's arm. "Loki? What is it?"

He looked up at her, appearing tortured once more, face creased in some terrible emotion. Was that a shimmer of tears in his eyes? Her gaze followed another drop of blood as it fell from his nose. "It was a decoy," he announced in a rough voice. "The portal we destroyed was a decoy. That's why he locked me away from myself. So that I couldn't warn everyone."

Darcy's stomach plummeted through the floor and headed for the ground, thousands of miles below. She swallowed back the bile rising in her throat, and reached out with the sleeve of her shirt to blot the blood from his face.

"Where is it?" Rogers asked, looking like he might puke. "Where is the other portal?"

The feeling of dread was an unwelcome visitor in the jet's interior as everyone waited on Loki's response. He closed his eyes, swallowed hard, and then opened his eyes once more.

"It's in New York."

♾️ ♾️ ♾️

Oh boy, I might start crying. This is so close to the end...

Vote and Comment guys, I miss you all.

Also, I decided to write a Bucky Barnes fic! Yay. And guess who with? Darcy duh. Lmao I'm sorry I love Darcy too much. I swear that'll be my last Darcy fic. But I poured a lot in that book, I hope y'all will love it.

Love,
InfinityHaze ♾️