"Are you sure you wouldn't rather one of the servants go down instead?" Jane worriedly fussed as she wrapped a cloak around her friend's shoulders. The once astrophysicist insisted on helping her friend dress much to the displeasure of the maids hanging about.
In the corner of her eye, Darcy nudged her head and made the maids huff and leave. With no audience to reprimand them, Darcy turned to address her best friend, boss and now Queen.
"Janey," Darcy began and Jane relaxed a bit, becoming royalty had prevented the easy informal way the two interacted into something stiff outside bed chambers, "I haven't been to Earth since your wedding. Going to the liquor store shouldn't be that hard."
"I know," Jane admitted, fiddling with a loose seam in her dress, "but Thor's reports talk of a civil war."
And that's the crux of the issue. Had there not been large tensions between between the founding members of the Avengers, Jane wouldn't be forced to stay in Asgard. But alas there was tension and a surprise pregnancy which made Jane reluctantly ask her friend to do this favor for her.
Grabbing her queen's hands, which were once calloused from hauling her own scientific equipment and were now as soft as a baby's bottom, in her own, Darcy could only comfort her.
"It's a simple pick up, you said you were craving chocolate," Darcy's tone was light and teasing.
"If it's so simple, then I shall have one of the servants do it, Darcy." Jane regally mocked, her stoic face breaking as the two giggled.
Darcy rolled her eyes and pulled a proper curtsy, and snobbishly replied.
"As the head handmaiden of the Queen of Asgard, it is my duty to fulfill all of your wishes."
"By Einstein, Darcy you are beginning to sound like them!" Jane snorted in a manner ill-fitting the Queen.
"By Einstein? Who even says that Jane?" Darcy smirked. She guided her friend to her bed as she looked for her old satchel.
"I'm the Queen! I can say whatever I want!" Jane pouted as she laid on the bed. The Queen of the Stars and Science idly watched her friend scurry around grabbing little things like old credit cards, cash, and her taser all of which wasn't needed in Asgard but needed for a trip to earth.
"As my lady commands." Darcy sarcastically says. Satisfied with what she placed in her bag, Darcy stretched her hand out to help her friend out of the bed.
The two women exit the private chambers and head towards the Bifrost with several handmaidens trailing the Queen and head handmaiden.
"Heimdall." Jane nodded her head at the Watcher of the Realms.
"My Queen." Heimdall deeply bowed.
"Hurry back and be careful, you understand?" Jane's brow furrowed and she hugged her friend tightly.
"Whoa, my lady, it's just a quick trip to Earth and back." Darcy hugged her friend and threw a confused glance to Heimdall who simply stared back.
"I'm serious Darce. I have this weird feeling and given the things we've been through together, I want you to be careful." Darcy raised a brow but nodded as she listened to her friend. Squeezing her friend once last time, Darcy moved away and calls out,
"Beam me down, Scotty."
Bright colors engulfed Darcy and blinded all but Heimdall from Darcy's departure.
—
Once her vision was cleared, Darcy immediately noticed one thing. She was not any where near a damned connivence store, or even a town.
"What the hell?" Darcy swore.
Green. Green. Green. Green everywhere. Green leaves, green plants, trees higher than any trees she has ever seen, including the ones found in Hogun's realm. Looking from side to side, Darcy could not see any signs of civilization, perhaps Heimdall dropped her off in the wrong place?
No, Darcy immediately thinks, Heimdall doesn't put you in the wrong place. Pulling her shoulders back, Darcy took a deep breath and began to move in random direction, hoping to find some sort of civilization. Only one thought ran through her mind. If Heimdall wasn't wrong where on earth, if it was earth, could she be?
—
Thranduil's mind was filled with grief. His father, his king, his only remaining kin was gone. Gone until Thranduil sailed west. Surveying the remaining soldiers, the newly crowned king, Thranduil was tempted to join his family. How was he to rule the Greenwood if his father was not there to guide him?
The survivors of the Battle of Dagorlad wearily marched back to their homes in the wood. Their once glistening armor, and proud countenance was wilted. Not even the healing of Imladris could ease their weary souls in the way that Greenwood the Great could.
As the company neared the forest they called home, Thranduil felt his entire being slightly relaxing. The Greenwood King called out to his soldiers and felt his lips curl a little as his people cheered and songs of gladness permeated the woods. Perhaps things would be better now that they were back in the safety of their realms.
—–
"Fuck the woods!" Darcy snarled as she tripped over a lifted root.
The head handmaiden had been wandering around lost in the forest for several hours and she had yet to see an exit. If it were not for the extensive training she received as being the only intern for a scientist and a queen, Darcy would have given up in exhaustion ages ago. Still, after pushing branches away from her face, Darcy's body felt the fatigue threaten to overwhelm her.
"I swear when I see Heimdall I will kick his ass." Darcy promised to herself as she stopped in front of a tree.
Kicking her impractical flats off, Darcy picked up the hems of her dress and swiftly sat down at the base of the trunk. Leaning her head against the hard tree, Darcy was unaware of the creature that followed her through the forest. She failed to hear the hissing as fangs grew.
—-
The river was in sight. Thranduil signaled for the company to stop and got off his mount and brought it to the river.
With the river here, our home is but a few hours away, Thranduil thought. A few of the elves knelt at the river to take sips of water. Others were talking in low tones, and the rest with singing mournful songs as they thought of their fallen kin.
When one of his personal guards hands him a cloth to scrub away the grime that accumulated on his face, Thranduil gracefully moved away from his company and towards a more private end of the river.
It was there, bent over with water dripping on his face that Thranduil heard frightened screams.
—
Darcy's heart pounded so violently in her chest, she was certain that it would launch itself at the giant spider in a suicidal attempt. Never taking her eyes off the damned eight-legged creature, Darcy groped at her satchel looking for something to defend herself with.
To her dismay, the creature was slowly crawling ever close making Darcy shiver at the thought of the hairy legs coming anywhere near her body.
A quick glance downwards at her bag showed nothing that would be of use…except her old car keys. She wrapped her fingers around it and pointed the sharp (though it was really dull) edges towards the spider.
Recognizing what little threat the shiny sticks in the woman's hands were, the spider scurried rapidly towards the cowering female ready to devour her.
Darcy tried to back away, failing to see a shallow hole with roots and decayed branches hiding it.
A snap of bone and a pained yelp followed.
Pain. Pain. Pain. Darcy couldn't help but whimper as the fire encompassed her leg and the damned creature continued to menacingly stalk to her.
Oh, god. This is how I'll die. By a fucking rabbit's hole and the thing of nightmares, Darcy panicked.
Until a long, sharp, glimmering blade sliced the damned thing in half.
Darcy opened her eyes, (when did she close them?), and was amazed at the sight before her. A man, tall and lithe with long flowing locks stood triumphantly over the defeated spider. Placing a booted heel on the spider, the man wrapped his fingers around the hilt of his sword and yanked it out.
Darcy had to rub her eyes before she realized that yes the man was glowing with a warm light engulfing him.
"Are you hurt?" Thranduil tilted his head and glanced at the mortal woman in concern.
"What did you say?" Darcy crinkled her brow. That wasn't any language she knew.
"What sort of mortal maiden does not understand Westron?" Thranduil asked himself as he cautiously came closer to the shaking woman.
"Fucking hell, he's hotter than Thor." Darcy stilled as the man knelt in front of her.
The blond held his hands out in a non threatening manner and began speaking in an airy language that lulled Darcy into a calm state.
Placing her hands on her chest, Darcy slowly said, "Darcy."
Then she pointed her hand at the blond's chest. The man's eyes widened when he realized what she was trying to convey.
"Thranduil." He mimicked the woman.
Darcy sighed in relief and slumped when the man-was he even a man?- offered her a hand.
Shaking her head when the man threw another question at her, Darcy tried to rise from where she had been sitting. She only managed to her knees before her body gave out.
Darcy offered a timid smile. That seemed to be the only thing she could properly convey to this man.
Thranduil tilted his head in confusion.
Darcy gestured to her foot which was rapidly darkening and swelling.
Thranduil's eyes widened in understanding and in sympathy. A foot injury would hinder the time it would take to get back to his battalion. One of his guards might notice his absence and sent out scouts to look for him. Which would be fine if the sky had not begun to darken.
"You cannot walk, Darcy. Would it be alright to carry you?" Thranduil asked, glancing at the sky and around the forest.
If one spider was bold enough to attack in broad daylight, he had no desire to see more creatures at night.
The woman babbled something at him, which he took as an affirmative.
Like a sack of flours, Darcy was thrown over his shoulders leaving his hand free to grasp his sword should he need it.
Darcy had no energy to shriek at Thranduil for his behaviour and limply held on as he began to exit the clearing. Other than fixing her hair so it was out of her face, Darcy watched as her surroundings changed and Thranduil's butt muscles flex as he walked.
The journey to the battalion was silent.