A/N: Takes place after the Avengers, Loki's been forgiven and accepted back into Asgard, and Thor lives on Earth with Jane.

CHAPTER 1 - Explosions, an Apple, and Gossip

It felt like my skin was falling off.

I screamed, dropping the phone I was holding and falling to my knees. My ears were ringing from the explosion, and I couldn't see anything. Had I gone blind? I knew my eyes were open, but I could see nothing. I felt around and clutched onto my leg. Was that... was that my bone I was touching?

I immediately let go, and the overwhelming smell of smoke stole my consciousness from me.

Goddamn smoke.

"Darcy? Darcy, are you there?" Jane said, pressing the phone close to her ear. She had been talking to her best friend about needing to get together sometime and how much the distance things sucks because Jane and Thor had to be in New York for a couple weeks, and there was a horribly loud noise on Darcy's end.

"Darcy? You're scaring me." Suddenly, she heard a loud, piercing scream. Darcy. The call cut off.

"Oh my God. THOR!" Jane ran as fast as she could to her bedroom, where her beloved was taking a nap. He woke up quickly, understanding immediately that something was wrong.

"Jane, my dearest. What is the matter?" Thor stood up and rushed over to where she stood, shell-shocked and completely white.

"Darcy is in trouble you have to go to her NOW!"

Thor's eyes widened. "Where?"

"She's in Albuquerque. It sounded like an explosion, so I am positive you can find her right away. Leave NOW! Please!" Her eyes were borderline manic. Thor immediately grabbed Mjolnir and ran out the door. He was gone before she even had the time to turn around.

Jane slowly sat down on the floor of her bedroom. If anything happened to her... she didn't know what she would do. Darcy had been there for her when no one else was. Darcy was her very closest friend. Her only close friend, now that Jane worked for S.H.E.I.L.D. She would completely lose her mind if anything happened to her.

She wished so badly to be able to do something, but until Thor returned, she could do nothing but sit. And wait.

Thor reached the explosion sight faster than he thought possible. He hoped, so badly, that there was nothing seriously wrong with Darcy. He'd grown to care for her as a little sister, and Jane would be devastated if anything had happened to her friend. He thought to himself, She must be okay. She must be.

How wrong he was.

The sight of Darcy was terrifying. It looked as though she was already dead. Her body was entirely covered in blood, her clothes mere tatters around her. He could see that there was a chunk of skin gone from her right leg, and it was bleeding profusely. It was clear that she had already lost consciousness.

Thor picked her up, and quickly took them to the Bifrost site. "Heimdall! You must open the Bifrost. This mortal needs help. Please, Heimdall!" Suddenly, in a swirl of colors and light, Thor and Darcy were picked up by the Bifrost, and taken quickly to Asgard.

"Just hold on, Darcy," Thor pleaded with the unconscious woman. "We're going to help you."

"He did WHAT?" Sif straightened her back stiffly. There is no way she was hearing this. Ridiculous.

"It's true. I saw her myself. I don't know what the Allfather will do, but Thor is taking this very seriously. Apparently the woman is his lover's best friend." The largest of the Warrior's Three sat back and took a swig of ale.

"What-" Sif was cut off by the door to their common room opening.

"The two of you are worse than my mother. No end to this gossiping nonsense." Loki strode into the room, stopping next to the chairs they were sitting at and looking down at the fire, scowling.

"Have you heard any news?" Sif asked, perched on the edge of her seat.

Loki sighed, the lines on his forehead smoothing out. "Yes. The Allfather will do what Thor asks. Only because he does not wish to see Thor ostracizing his family. Though I can't understand why he would want someone as unimportant as a lover's friend eating from the apple..."

At his last words, both comrades stood up quickly. "You don't mean-?"

"That can't be!"

Loki smiled dryly. "Oh, but it is. I mean exactly what I say. Shocking, is it not, that Thor needs not to even beg before the Allfather does exactly what he wants. This would have never happened had it been me asking for this ridiculous favor."

Sif and Volstagg looked at each other warily. Loki seemed even more angsty lately. He always hated it when Thor got exactly what he wanted, which was nearly always. But even the two of them were a little surprised that Odin was doing this for Thor. It had never been done for this reason before. Turning a human immortal, simply because someone would be sad if she wasn't? Odin must have an alternative reason for granting such a thing so easily.

"So then... the woman, will she live here?" Volstagg asked, still confused.

Loki frowned. "I do not know. I know that Thor would like for her to be returned to Earth for Jane's sake, but she will have much to learn. I don't know what's going to happen."

What Loki did know was that it had been his own fault the girl was here in the first place. He was mad at himself, not because he felt guilt, but because it was because of him a stupid girl was getting the ultimate gift. And Odin was sure to find out.

A/N:

So, hi! This is my first Thor story, and I hope you guys enjoy it! I've been kind of obsessed with shipping Loki/Darcy lately, so I'm pretty excited about this story! Also, sorry if some of my facts about Asgard and this whole world aren't quite right, I was too lazy to actually research. If you have any good information for me, let me know!

Update: Thanks, ain13, for pointing out my mistake with the apples! :)