Chapter 1

"If I ever act like that, please shoot me," I said to Tony sitting next to me at the bar. "With pleasure," he replied staring at the same couple as I was. Thor and Jane had somehow morphed into some kind of amorphous blob swaying with the loud music and huge crowd of people surrounding them. They were conjoined at the mouth (and probably other places that I really didn't want to think about) and it was quite sickening. Come to think of it, if Tony "Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist" Stark was grossed out by their not-so-subtle displays of affection then it had to be bad.

"Dude they look like they're eating each other's faces. There will be nothing left of them by night's end," I said laughing at them in the middle of the floor. The Scotch must have been having an effect on Tony because he laughed at that remark way more than he normally would have. The night wore on and Tony and I found a never-ending stream of people to laugh at. There was a pretty little girl chatting up Steve and he looked like he was about to have an aneurysm. Poor guy had no idea what to do when it came to the opposite sex. Clint and Natasha were off somewhere doing God knows what and Bruce had elected not to come for reasons that were beyond my inebriated mind.

Tony and I were the last of the group to leave the club. "Come on Tony. It's time to get you home so you can sleep," I put his arm around my shoulders so I could support him as we walked out to the car. "No I can't leave yet," he protested. When I asked him why, he slurred, "I don't have a beautiful woman to go home with me." I rolled my eyes and wondered what Pepper would think if she heard him say that. Sure she worked for him and all, but she is so in love with the man it's not even funny. Okay, well maybe it is a little funny. I mean Tony really has no idea that she would do anything for him (including having his babies, but she'll never admit to that) not out of duty but out of love. The woman was faithful.

I sighed, "Okay, this is how it's gonna go down. If you promise to go home willingly, I'll crash at your place instead of going home to my apartment. Deal?" He muttered something that sounded like approval so we got in the car and I drove Tony home. I pulled up to his huge mansion of a house and had to practically drag him up to his bed. I took off his shoes and stripped him down to his boxers before I covered him up and left him to sleep off the alcohol.

Before you jump to any conclusions, let me tell you about my relationship with Tony Stark. I met him a couple years ago when the Avengers were formed to stop Loki, the God of Mischief, from enslaving the earth. Thor introduced us at a party and I quickly learned that he was a major smart-ass; therefore, I immediately liked him. We spent that whole night talking and learned that we had a lot in common. We became best friends in a few weeks, and now it's not uncommon for me to spend the night at his house (especially after a night of drinking). As for the whole "undressing him and putting him to bed" thing, I have seen the dude naked on many occasions, and it was more of me protecting the very expensive suit than making sure he slept comfortably. Trust me, Tony would totally understand.

I made my way to the room that Tony kept prepared for me in case I did stay the night. He had a whole closet full of clothes that I loved and he even managed to decorate the room for me. The man knew me way too well. I took a quick shower before I climbed into that amazing bed. I didn't feel too sleepy, so I started running through things in my mind. How I was both happy for and envious of Jane's relationship with Thor, how Tony needed to hurry up and make a move on Pepper before I convinced her to make a move, and how poor Steve needed to get laid...BAD. I was just thinking about Bruce and why he never showed up at the bar when sleep finally took me.

I woke up the next morning to the sound of my phone ringing. I looked at it and read the text from Jane. Bring coffee when you come to the meeting. What meeting? I climbed out of bed and started walking to Tony's room when I ran into Pepper. "Good morning Darcy. How did you sleep?" she asked. "Oh I slept great, thanks. Hey, is Tony awake yet? I need to talk to him," I figured he must know something about this meeting. "Yeah I think he just woke up," she replied. Just as I was about to walk away she asked, "Darcy? Did Tony...say anything last night...about me?" I smiled at her and said, "Yeah I think he did say something about you. I remember him saying something about a beautiful woman at home." Okay so it wasn't the complete truth, but it wasn't a total lie. And besides, I was doing Tony a huge favor by telling her this. She smiled from ear to ear and walked away, so I went to find Tony.

I banged on his door and yelled, "Naked or not, I'm coming in!" and opened the door. He was standing in his closet in nothing but his boxers trying to pick out a suit. "Dude what the hell is going on? Jane texted me something about a meeting today and I have no idea what she's talking about," I said as I sat down on his bed. "Good morning to you too, Darcy. I slept wonderful. Thanks for asking," he said smirking at me from his closet door. "You really irk me sometimes Tony Stark. Did you know that?" I glared at him. He said between laughs, "Well I must not irk you too much or you wouldn't be stripping me down to my underwear on a semi-regular basis."

"Tony you are such an assbutt sometimes. Now answer my damn question!" I tried, and failed, to suppress a giggle when I realized that I actually called him an "assbutt." When he finally finished laughing, he answered my question. "I don't have specifics, but Thor said something has happened on Asgard. What did Jane tell you?" I pulled out my phone and showed him the text. We all knew that if you were asked to bring coffee, you brought a lot. Thor was addicted to the drink. We also knew that if you were being asked to bring coffee, it was only because Thor and Jane had gotten about two whole minutes of sleep (if you know what I mean) and didn't have time to get it themselves.

"Well this meeting ought to be fun," I said sarcastically as I got up and walked to the door. I walked back to my room and went straight to the closet. I dug around for something comfortable and was dressed in five minutes. I fixed my hair and brushed my teeth and waited for Tony in the kitchen. He emerged wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. "What happened to the suit you picked out?" I asked him as I threw him a random set of car keys. "It's Casual Tuesday," he said. "What car am I driving?" I shrugged my shoulders and walked out the door.

We arrived at SHIELD HQ with more than enough coffee to satisfy Thor. We walked into the meeting room and took our places at the long table. I sat between Jane and Clint, with Thor on the other side of Jane and Nick at the head of the table. Across the table sat Agent Coulson, Steve, Tony, Bruce, and Natasha. By the time Nick started talking Thor had already drank a third of the coffee that be brought for him. Surprisingly, Nick gave Thor the honor of telling us why we were all here.

"My friends," he started, "as you know, my brother Loki has been residing on Asgard in order to receive his punishment for his crimes against his king and the Nine Realms. On this day, Loki's punishment on Asgard has ended." The whole room started muttering until Natasha spoke up. "What will happen to him now? Will he continue to live on Asgard? Will he come here? What will we do if he does come?" Thor took a deep breath. "I am aware that you all may not feel as I do about Loki, but I have forgiven him for all that he has done. He is my brother now just as he has always been. Father feels that Loki has been punished enough for what he has done and has forgiven him as well. Now Loki has a choice of continuing to live on Asgard or he may come to Midgard and reside here. However, we will not be sure of his choice to live here until he arrives."

"I choose to live here on Midgard."

Half the table jumped up prepared to fight at the sound of the voice. Natasha had a gun pointed at the figure standing in the back corner of the room. Everyone else seemed both confused and suspicious. Their faces were mirror images of each other. The room grew silent. I leaned back in my chair to see around Thor's mammoth body and what I saw had to be the most beautiful man I had ever seen. He was tall, at least six feet. He had ink-black hair that reached his shoulders. He was slim but dangerous. His thin lips were turned up into a smirk and the way he stood just exuded pure confidence.

Then I looked into his eyes. His eyes were like two emerald stars. They were so beautiful and glowing. I had decided that I could stare into those eyes forever. They showed the pain that he had been through. I had wanted to, in that moment, wrap my arms around him and make sure no harm ever came to him. Seeing him was like a blind man seeing the sunrise for the first time. I was overcome with so much emotion that I felt I would burst into tears right there.

Then Loki looked straight at me.

And I fell out of my chair.