A/N: So I decided to post this today, because I'm picking up my puppy this weekend! Yay, puppy! :D

Part Seven

"You really are impossible, Darce." Andrew was standing over her with a warm comforting smile. His form was solid, proudly wearing his uniform. Her brothers the heroes. It's what everyone said, though the truth of her brother's sacrifice never made it to their eyes. Andrew and Victor were killed while disregarding a direct order from a superior. They'd been ordered to leave no survivors. No one ever said anything about children. Children with guns, taught to destroy. They were naïve, but Darcy hated them anyway. Her brothers died trying to protect their unit from children. Their unit survived. Her brothers didn't. She wouldn't even have known the truth if not for her father's… connections. Damn him.

Now they were back, and for a moment she imagined them as zombies with bullet holes. The image didn't last long as her stomach protested. Darcy couldn't look in those disapproving eyes, couldn't bear to see Andrew disappointed. "I've been making one terrible mistake after another, Andrew. I guess I can't do anything right."

Victor's laugh was light and pleasant. It settled over her like a cool breeze on a warm and sunny day. His arm dropped around her, pulling her into his warmth, and she touched his uniform, tracing the patterns of his camo as she let her head fall to his shoulder. "Naw sis, getting it wrong is what life is all about! If we didn't make mistakes we'd hardly be allowed to call ourselves humans, eh?"

"Maybe you're both impossible," muttered Andrew with a roll of his eyes, moving to sit beside Darcy, pulling off his hat. "Neither of you ever listen to me."

"I try!" Darcy argued, pulling away from Victor to look back at Andrew. "It's the sensible thing to do." Darcy had never been very sensible.

"I know you did, kiddo… I know it. Getting involved with SHIELD wasn't a mistake," Andrew assured her.

"She never did get it… huh Andrew?" chuckled Victor.

She hated when they did that. Laughing and smiling at her, but she wanted in on the joke. They spoke to each other without words, but she wasn't a mind reader. "Get what?!"

Andrew sighed. "Darce… you're who they fight for. You're everything good about this world, kiddo. You have dreams about changing the world. One day you'll be the first honest politician! It'll be in the record books for sure!" teased Andrew with a playful grin.

Darcy rolled her eyes. "I'm not that honest… I almost hooked up with the god of mischief," she grumbled, dropping her head in her hands.

"Yeah… can't say I approve of that one," agreed Andrew.

Victor huffed. "She likes him, Andrew… it doesn't matter if you approve."

It was all so confusing. Then again, she was talking to dead men. "I don't know what to do," she finally admitted quietly, looking at the floor.

Andrew reached for her hand and squeezed. "Just hold on… for us. Hold on for the Avengers. You aren't alone, Darcy. Just don't give up."

She blinked, regretting it immediately as she realized she couldn't feel her brothers beside her anymore. Panic overwhelmed her as she looked around just in time to see them fading away. "No please! Don't leave me!" she begged them. "Wait!"

Begging the dead not to go was useless, and they only smiled, disappearing from the small room. She didn't realize she was crying until a tear dripped to her hand. Her head bowed and she closed her eyes once more.

When her eyes opened it was Nott staring down at her, rocking her gently with fear in her eyes. She was so tired. Could a person be tired in a dream? It certainly didn't feel like a dream. All she knew was she felt like all the fight in her was draining away. She could barely move, barely breathe. Andrew and Victor wanted her to hold on. She would try, but she wasn't sure how long she'd last. This dream was fading from her just as surely as the real one had… and once it was gone, she didn't know what she'd be left with.


He was watching. Loki could feel his eyes, reaching out, waiting… the pull of dark energy growing stronger with each step. The fight ahead of them was like nothing they'd ever faced before. His heart was beating hard in his chest. Even in the dream, it was real enough. The taste of death just as certain if they were awake. He would not fall back. He would not run. For once it was Thor following himinto battle. Not even the fates could have predicted such a thing, he was certain.

"Brother? Do you hear?" asked Thor, voice hesitant. He heard it. The pull of energy heightened his senses. Despite dark clouds overhead, his skin burned… but it wasn't the sun against his fair skin. Atum shined more brightly than any star. Waiting, but why did he not come and face them? What did the God Eater wait for?

"He mocks us." Thor's eyes were searching, but he might as well have been a blind man in the presence of dark magic. The shroud would not relent. In the dream world… Thor was more or less useless to Loki. Magic was all that would protect them. Loki's eyes focused ahead of them, travelling the distance he'd yet to cover and seeing their destination. Bars, Darcy lied limp in a mysterious woman's arms, and Atum… eagerly awaiting them. His chest tightened. It was too easy. Something was wrong. "He's planning something."

"Lady Darcy cannot last long. We must save her from Atum now!" urged Thor, dropping a hand on Loki's shoulder. "If only we had a horse…."

Loki shook his head. "There is no need for a horse, Thor. You forget… this is a dream. Atum bends it to his will, but I've seen Darcy do the same." He closed his eyes, concentrating on Darcy's presence alone. He reached out to her in his mind's eye. A faint caress. "Thor… when you face Atum… do not hesitate. Do not back down. Kill him." The moment Loki opened his eyes, the image of Thor's weapon of choice flashed into existence… an echo of reality. Thor's eyes widened, and Loki smiled. He watched their armor appear one by one. Chest plate, helmet… everything they needed to prepare for the battle ahead of them. This was it. No more waiting. "ATUM!" Loki screamed. "PREPARE YOURSELF, GOD EATER!" A sinister smile, though inside he was shaking. "You're next meal will not agree with you," he growled as his knives pressed against his sleeve.

In the blink of an eye they stood in Atum's presence. As Loki had suspected, their long journey was Atum's manipulation, but the time for waiting was at an end. The woman holding Darcy… immediately he recognized her as he hadn't before. The shroud of darkness was truly dense around her. With a hand wrapped around the bars she met Loki's gaze. "Loki!" she cried just as Atum made his first attack, and he felt the burn of true power.


The weight of his hammer was off. That thought repeated in Thor's mind even as he rushed towards Atum. It did not exist, but he would use it nonetheless. He would tear Atum apart with his bare hands if need be. Battle… war… there was nothing more glorious. His bones awoke from their slumber. His body hummed with life. Blood rushed through his veins like the rapids, and his heart beat twice as fast. The burning and pain were part of the experience. He was not invincible. The ache of his muscles, screaming at him with each blow reminded him of this. Atum attacked him with a fury beyond anything he'd faced previously. Each blow singed his skin. Each scream branded his ear drums.

Their strength was an even match regardless, and Thor fought for something far more precious than power. Nothing would deter him. While Loki rushed off to free Darcy, Thor kept his focus on Atum. He blocked each blow, and swung his hammer with all his might. Atum lunged for him, kept coming, never falling back, never stumbling. Thor would not give up. Even with the odds against him… even as he felt his energy falter. Laughter rumbled from deep in Atum's chest, red eyes shining as his hands gripped Thor's hammer and blocked his desperate blow. "Son of Odin… you know not what you face!" he growled. "I will burn you ALIVE!"


"You have come for Darcy?" questioned Nott as Loki cut into the bars with his sharpest magical blade. Loki almost laughed at the thought of this being the same woman he knew as a child… the one that would coldly warn him of wasting his breath with worthless words.

"Of course! You as well! I will save you both!" he insisted as he heard Thor's scream under the force of Atum's burning power. His time was short. In his desperation Loki shook at the bars while he continued to cut into them, using the tip of his imagined blades. Magic surged through him as he tried his best to speed up the process.

Nott shook her head sadly. "There is no hope of saving me, Loki. Take the girl and flee. Escape this place. Atum will stop at nothing to have you both!" she insisted.

Victory! The bars were weakening under his magic. He worked even harder to break the bars, giving it everything he possessed. "Do I not owe you my life already, grandmother? Why do you refuse to let me repay?"

Darcy was so close… almost in his grasp. One quick glance down told Loki all he needed to know. She was a wilting flower under the scourging presence of Atum. He needed to get to her, and soon. He could feel his own abilities draining from him. Thor would not last long. He was running out of time! Nott's delicate hand touched the bar, though her gaze rested on him. "I sense a great darkness in you, Loki-"

"We haven't the time for this!" argued Loki. He would fill his grandmother in concerning his sins later, but for now his focus was on saving them.

Nott sucked in a breath, and pulled hard against the bar he'd been cutting through. It shattered like glass in her hand. Loki's eyes widened as he met his grandmother's gaze. "Careful boy… you forget yourself," she warned, and moved aside.

Loki glanced back at Thor just in time to see Atum shove him to the ground. Thor's skin was blackened as if on fire, but he scrambled aside just as Atum sent a death-dealing blow into the dirt. He squeezed through the opening in the cage, and reached for Darcy. "You could still come with me. If you stay you will not be spared."

Nott helped him gather Darcy into his arms, and dropped a warm hand over his. "I have been spared for far too long, my boy. Go!"


She'd never been inches from death before. The very phrasing seemed wrong until her eyes narrowed on the piece of ceiling aimed straight for her chest, and hanging precariously from part of the beam keeping her pinned. Jane's eyes stayed wide as she watched it slip further and further towards her. Was this it? Was this how she'd die? Buried in a pile of rubble? She'd always cherished mathematical probability, and all the constants that came with it. There was one constant she was having a little trouble with now. Gravity….

Jane took a deep breath, and squeezed her eyes tight as she tried to slip from under the debris. She felt metal and glass cut into her skin with each tug. Her back was already soaked with blood from cuts she'd sustained when the ceiling caved in. Another hard tug and she managed to move her legs, but not much. She cursed under her breath just as she felt the building shudder once more, and the pointed shard of metal slipped further towards her. Jane screamed, panicked. "Oh god… HELP ME!"


The moment Loki removed Darcy from the cage Nott was out in a flash, using what little strength she had left to attack Atum from behind while Thor lie broken at his feet. A choice. Loki was never good at choices. His decisions rarely fared well for anyone, him included. He could feel Darcy against his chest, breathing… barely. This is what he'd come back for… to save her. She groaned in his arms, unconsciously gripping his armor… she needed him. However, Thor needed him too.

Atum screamed in anger as he fought against Nott, burning her as he'd done to Thor. Tearing at her… killing her, but she fought him regardless. Thor was breathing, but damaged. Loki hesitated, glancing at his would-be brother. "Thor!" he shouted, silently begging him to move. He did not. Fate would not be so kind. Instead… it left him with a choice.

He could not save them both. Loki swallowed hard, and turned away. He pulled Darcy close and ran, leaving Thor behind. He ran with the load most precious to him, though his feet felt heavy with his choice. The God of Mischief would always choose to be selfish it seemed. It was in his blood. While men like Thor died for glory and honor. Loki continued on, grip tightened around the only thing he had left. Darcy Lewis would never forgive him for this….


His building was falling to pieces around him. God damn aliens and their ridiculous artifacts! Stark had been dodging debris since leaving Clint pinned under a steel beam. He'd managed to reach his suit, but it had already sustained damage even before he put it on. Flashes of Loki's impious grin as he'd stalked through Tony's tower holding that damned glow stick still haunted his memories. As he scanned through each floor his muscles tensed, as if expecting Chitauri to surprise him around every corner.

His nightmares of the blackness of space, the entire island of Manhattan blown away, the feel of his lungs taking in their very last breath even as his body floated back towards Earth… it all came back with overwhelming clarity. He couldn't escape them. He couldn't avoid the impact it had on his already scared mind. Visions of that cave and his first real taste of death, the smoke in the air as he watched soldiers fall to their deaths by enemy gunfire… so many nightmares he couldn't ignore when he laid down to rest.

Tony stretched out his arm and scanned for Jane room by room, searching for life… anyone that could have been left behind. When he finally found it… that red dot on his visual that signaled body heat… it wasn't who'd he'd expected. His guns were out even as the signal rushed around the corner and he was greeted by the double barrel of the Black Widow's own guns. "Jesus! What the hell?!"

Natasha frowned, lowering her weapons. "What are you still doing here, Stark?" she practically snarled.

Bits of dirt stained her face, and her red hair seemed dull under the debris that'd tangled there. "It's my building… or does SHIELD think they can take that from me too?" he replied, allowing his helmet to pull back so he could see her with his own eyes, and of course… allow her to be blessed with his boyish good looks. "The real question is what you're doing here?"

Romanoff quirked an eyebrow. "I'm here for, Barton… don't tell Fury."

That was what he liked about the Black Widow. She may have had everyone else fooled, but not him. She had a mind of her own, and not even Fury could control something as powerful as that. Going after Barton wasn't a shocker either. She didn't even bother to hide her attachment to him. He was certain she could… if she wanted to. A well-practiced spy like her was good at making lies look like the purest of truths. They were fucking, but it was only Barton foolish enough to believe it didn't go deeper than that. "Wouldn't dream of it. Seen Jane around here?"

Natasha frowned. "Foster's still in the building?"

Stark nodded, seeing the alarm in her eyes. Thor would never forgive them if his 'beloved' wasn't safe and sound. He was starting to worry she was in some serious danger considering she'd yet to turn up. "Thor's sort of… busy at the moment, and it's up to me to get her out of here safe. Jarvis is offline thanks to that damned orb, and I'm starting to think it could be interfering with my sensors too."

"Barton?" she questioned, worried about her own beloved. Tony was starting to wish Pepper was around. All these people, and not a single soul worried about his own glorious ass.

"Pinned under a beam, but he's in one piece. He's working out his escape as we speak, I'm sure, but help me find Jane and I'll help you save Robin Hood," he insisted.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Fine, but we'll need to split up to cover more ground. I'll search the lower levels." Natasha threw him an old fashioned radio, and Tony resisted the urge to make a face. "With Jarvis out of commission I'm afraid this is the best we can do to keep in touch."

"Figures," he grumbled, storing it away.


She felt like she was floating, but there was something hard against her. Fingers curled around metal, and she breathed in the scent of mint… and frost. It was kind of like the smell New York after a really bad snowstorm (untouched and beautiful). She felt stronger, and although her body resisted her for a moment, she opened her eyes. "Am I dreaming?"

Loki looked down at Darcy and smiled warmly. "Actually… yes," he replied. There was a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

She wondered if it was possible to have a dream within a dream. Darcy supposed anything was possible when alien technology was involved. "Loki?" Her voice was rough and a bit sore, as if her body were recovering from a bad cold. Whatever affect Atum had on her body was diminishing, but she still felt weak.

He nodded, pausing to kneel down for rest. "Can you stand?"

"I don't know," she admitted honestly.

"No matter, it's probably best if I carry you. Any longer with the God Eater and he would have drained you completely."

Her energy? Her life force? She wasn't sure what Atum fed off of, but her body made it clear she'd gone through some trauma. She clung to Loki, grateful, and closed her eyes once more. "What about Nott?" she asked. "The woman that was looking over me?"

There was a long pause, and she knew the answer even before he spoke. "Regretfully… she did not make it. She sacrificed herself for us both."

She could hear a tightness in Loki's voice. Darcy opened her eyes once more and rested a hand to his cheek. "I'm… sorry, it's kinda my fault she had to do that."

"No! The choice was her own, Darcy. She deemed you worthy of her sacrifice… do not taint it with unnecessary guilt," he insisted, covering her hand with his own. He was staring at her with such earnest.

There was something different about him. She could tell. It couldn't have just been Nott, could it? He was shaking, and there were tears in his eyes that he refused to let fall. He looked worn, close to exhaustion. She opened her mouth to speak, to ask the question that hung between them but he shook his head as if he could read her mind. He stood, holding Darcy so tight, and carried on walking. A crumbling brick wall was half a mile ahead of them… and it looked so fragile, nothing like it had been before. They'd be free soon. All this would finally be over.


Atum was smiling down at Thor, just barely containing his laughter as the defeated god of thunder lay at his feet. Nott's dead body lie beside him, burned to a crisp in his fury. Her suffering was at an end, but Thor's was just beginning. "Son of Odin… you have been betrayed," he taunted.

Thor held his gaze, smoking rising from the burns covering his body, far too weak to move. "Not betrayed… my brother and Darcy are safe. I die well," he replied.

The God Eater laughed once more, amused by the foolishness of immortals. They believed centuries of life had given them wisdom, but they were no more wise than any being crawling upon the dirt. "Die? Who said anything about dying?" he questioned with a wide sinister grin. Leaning down he gripped Thor's chest plate, and narrowed his eyes. "You will wish you were dead, my dear boy… but that kind of relief will not come just yet. You really think I would make it so easy for the god of mischief? Do you really think the waking world will save them from my reach?" Atum felt the power of Nott's sacrifice awaken powers he'd not tapped into for quite some time. "Nott destroyed my form and trapped me here… but now Atum will arise again… thanks to you!"

Thor's eyes widened as his body turned to liquid fire, boiling and angry as it seeped into his skin and took complete control. Loki Odinson and Darcy Lewis were not the only ones soon to awaken! Atum, God Eater, was coming! He would not stop until he'd had his fill! He enjoyed the cries of the god of thunder, tamed under his dark magic, unmatched. Atum shoved Thor's conscious mind into the deepest, darkest place he could find, and took possession of his fleshly soul. Yes… this would do nicely. The wicked smile was Thor's lips this time, and wounds scaring his flesh slowly faded as he got to his feet. His eyes searched the ground for tracks left by Loki, and he immediately followed them. It was time the God Eater awaken from his sleep… and take what was rightfully his. No one would stop him this time. This had been his plan all along… and of course, it worked like a charm.

To Be Continued