Darcy woke with a start. Something was wrong. She sat up, coated in a cold sweat and looked frantically round the room.

It took her a moment to realise that it was simply the absence of Loki lying beside her that had thrown her.

She was on the carpet in Jane's chambers in Asgard. The room was dark, the curtains still pulled and no candles or lanterns lit.

Jane was asleep on the bed, her deep breathing filling the room.

Darcy clambered up, not wanting to remain on the floor and not wanting to wake Jane up either. Instead she headed for a door in the wall.

Opening it she found a huge bathroom. In the centre was a bath the size of a small swimming pool, set deep within the floor and glinting with gold taps, a dozen differently coloured bottles on the edge. Fluffy towels sat in a pile on the edge. The floor beneath Darcy's bare feet was marble but pleasantly warm.

Darcy shut the door behind her. A bathroom. An actual bathroom. Not a water jug over a drain with projected walls.

She beamed at it all like she'd never seen anything like it before. She would have been happy with a trickling shower with rusty water and instead she got a spa.

Before she knew it she was filling the tub, the taps pumping steaming water and filling the huge tub in a surprisingly short time. She stripped, folding the clothes neatly in a pile, treating them with the respect a gift from Frigga deserved and climbed into the bath.

The hot water burned her skin pleasantly. Darcy always liked hot showers but she hadn't realised just how much she'd missed them. She buried her head under the water. The floor was sloped but Darcy swam anyway, the water carrying away whatever of the dungeons she carried with her. It felt like rebirth.

She grabbed one of the bottles from the side- a green one with gold swirls- and used it as soap to scrub her skin raw. She showered every day in the dungeon but it never made her feel clean, just slightly less dirty.

She even found a vial of the orange stuff Frigga brought her for her hair and rubbed it so hard into her scalp that it began to sting.

After so long spent in it, the water had cooled to room temperature, Darcy climbed out. After she'd dried off she dressed back into the purple dress and laced the metal back up. The key ring from Disneyland fell out and she stared at it.

They looked so young and innocent. Even Loki and "innocent" just should not have been a word anyone ever associated with him. Her heart tugged.

Loki, please be okay, she prayed.

She strung the key-ring back inside her dress and walked into the bedroom. Jane was sat on the bed looking exhausted. Maybe the Aether was draining her?

"You were gone for ages." She said when Darcy entered. Even her voice sounded tired. The curtains were drawn back and in the morning sunlight she looked awfully pale.

"Sunlight!" Darcy yelled, running over to the window. She felt it hit her skin, it didn't feel quite how she remembered it but that might just have been because it was some other star. She let it wash over her for a few seconds before remembering Jane. "Oh right, yeah well you had a bathroom and I got excited because there wasn't one in the dungeons."

She turned and saw Jane watching her, a sad expression on her face.

"Are you okay?" Darcy asked. Jane's lips twitched with concern into a thin line.

"There were no bathrooms?" She asked.

"No." Darcy replied, leaning back against the sunlight and smiling. "I had to shower with this magic jug. It refilled with water."

Jane continued looking at her with sympathy. Darcy felt awkward; it wasn't that bad, was it?

"And sunlight?" Jane ventured.

Darcy laughed. "Yeah for some reason it was absent in the dungeons." She looked round the room, remembering what Fandral had said about Jane being confined to chambers. Apparently she was fucking the wrong brother because Jane's accommodation was a lot nicer than hers. "Fandral said you were locked in here."

Jane nodded, glancing at the door. "They think the Dark Elves will come back for the Aether. Odin wants me to stay and set the might of Asgard against them..."

"But?" Darcy prompted.

"But Thor wants to protect his people. And he wants the Aether out of me before it...gets worse. He thinks it would be better to take me to the Dark Elves, have them remove the Aether and while it's not in a host it'll be easier to destroy."

"But the Asgardians all those years ago couldn't destroy it? They just had to bury it? What makes him think he'll be able to?"

Jane shrugged. "He has Mjolnir. I don't think Asgard has ever had a weapon so powerful. I don't know if it'll work but it is the best chance we have of destroying it."

"So Odin locked you up to stop Thor leaving with the Aether?" Darcy asked.

Jane nodded.

Darcy looked at her friend. The idea of some energy living in her was beyond disturbing. "Jesus, Jane." Darcy sighed. "I get arrested and you have to go and one up me by channelling some other worldly force."

Jane started to laugh but she lurched sideways suddenly, as though she'd fallen over. Darcy reached out to stop her but Jane jumped back frantically.

"NO!" She shouted staring at Darcy's outstretched hand in fear. She lifted her eyes directly to Darcy's, her brown meeting Darcy's blue. "D-d-don't touch me. I mean it, Darce. You'll get injured...I-I can't control it and...and if I hurt you." Her eyes were filling with tears.

"Woah, okay." Darcy said. "No touchy. It's fine Jane, you're fine."

Jane still looked scared.

The door opened and a guard walked in with food.

"I'm not hungry." Jane said shakily, still clearly distraught.

Darcy was watching Jane warily so she didn't see what made the sudden sound of something heavy hitting metal.

Her head snapped up and she saw Sif standing over the crumpled form of the guard delivering breakfast. He was wearing a helmet so she doubted he was dead.

"Good." Sif said urgency in her voice as she flipped her sword. "Let's go." Her eyes flicked to Darcy. "Both of you." She added and turned.

Darcy looked at Jane in alarm and then both scrambled to their feet and ran after the warrior, trying not to trip over the hems of their dresses.

Sif was striding down the hall, her sword swinging with each step.

"What's happening?" Jane asked as they caught up with her. Darcy and Jane were both short and Sif was tall so Darcy was feeling a mix of intimidation and awe in the face of the war Goddess.

"I am breaking you out of your confinement or was that not obvious enough?" Sif asked a hint of irritation to her voice.

Darcy had got the sense when she'd visited Thor a few years ago that she didn't like Jane very much. Apparently she also didn't like defying the Allfather for her. She must have been extremely loyal to Thor to go against the king for Jane.

"How?" Jane asked.

They'd reached the end of the hall where two more guards stood. They turned as they saw them coming, reaching for the swords but Sif's blade was a flash of silver in the air. They hit the floor and the women kept walking.

"I am getting you two." Sif explained. "Thor is busy getting Loki out of the dungeons."

"Loki?" Darcy asked, her heart skipping a beat. He was part of their escape plan?

Sif's nose crinkled with distaste. "Unfortunately he is necessary to escape without detection. Though I doubt he will consent to Thor's plan."

"To go to the Dark Elves?" Darcy asked.

"Yes." Sif confirmed.

"The ones that killed Frigga?"

"Yes."

"He'll come." Darcy said.

"I hope for all our sakes you're right." Sif said, taking down two more guards. "If you do not escape successfully we'll all be for the axe for treason."

"What do you need him for?" Darcy asked.

"He is the only one who knows undetectable routes out of the realm." Sif said, her voice firm making it clear that she wanted no more questions about Loki.

Given that she was breaking them out of Asgard, Darcy was happy to oblige.

They rounded the corner and Darcy saw them, Thor and Loki walking side by side down the hall.

"Thor!" Jane yelled running up to him. He was wearing a poncho for some reason.

Darcy hesitated, watching Loki approach. She wanted nothing more than to throw her arms around him but he wouldn't appreciate that in front of people. And besides, the last time she'd seen him he'd kind of threatened to kill her.

He was wearing leather again. God she'd missed it though it did made him look even skinnier. There hadn't been a lot of food in the dungeon but she hadn't lost any weight so she could only assume it was at least nutritious. Loki, however, looked more stick like than ever. His hair reached his shoulders and she wondered how she hadn't noticed before just how long it had gotten. It was straggly and knotted, a way it certainly hadn't been when she'd last seen him.

He was in front of her. Her stomach twisted. She waited for him to say something but apparently he didn't know where they stood either.

What was the point in asking if he was okay, anyway, when she knew full well that he wasn't?

"Well it's about time, Frost Brain." She managed to choke out. "What kind of time do you call this?"

She saw relief in his eyes and she couldn't take it anymore. After all, she wasn't used to not being impulsive. She flung her hands around his neck but his hands didn't move around her. Nonetheless she breathed in his leather like a long lost friend.

When she pulled away she saw the explanation for why he hadn't hugged her. His hands were in manacles again. Sif hadn't said anything about handcuffing him again.

"What did he do?" Darcy asked Thor, looking at the handcuffs.

"Nothing." Loki said.

"His usual tricks." Thor said at the same time, throwing an annoyed look at his brother. Darcy saw he was supporting Jane with his arm round her waist. She looked more exhausted than ever.

"I did nothing." Loki assured her.

"You're still talking." Thor said pointedly. "So I can only assume the shackles did not serve their purpose."

"Maybe you need another one of those muzzles." Darcy said with a grin. Loki glared at her.

"Are we not supposed to be escaping?" Jane asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

"Right," Thor looked at her doubtfully before sweeping her into her arms.

A distant sound of footsteps could be heard running toward them.

"Go," Sif said, looking only at Thor. "I'll hold them off."

Thor nodded and turned to walk.

Darcy started to follow but a sudden glint of silver out of the corner of her eye made her pause.

She turned to see Sif with her sword at Loki's neck. He arched it and smiled at her, a grin that Darcy often wanted to smack off so she commended Sif on not slitting his throat for it.

"Betray him and I'll kill you." She hissed.

Loki laughed. "It's good to see you too, Sif." He grinned.

Sif glared at him and slowly lowered her sword before running in the distance of the approaching footsteps.

Darcy shook her head in exasperation at Loki.

"Problem?" He asked, mock politely. She pulled his arm and started running towards Thor and Jane.

"You practically got off on that." She said.

"She had a sword to my throat." Loki said as though this would make her statement false.

Darcy closed her eyes to prevent from rolling them. She thought of the way he'd arched his neck. "Dude you were fucking presenting."

"Are you jealous, Darcy?" He smirked.

They'd caught up with Jane and Thor. Apparently so had Volstagg because the bearded warrior was now with them.

"You know what." She told Loki. "This might not be the best place to discuss your weird kinks."

They ran down the hall, more footsteps coming up from behind so Darcy assumed there'd been too many guards for Sif to hold off.

They were in the throne room. It wasn't as Darcy remembered it. Only half of the pillars still stood, the rest were crumpled to rubble. The throne was empty and in the middle of the room stood a huge outer spacey ship.

"We're escaping in that?" She asked.

Loki looked at it disbelievingly then at Thor. "He always goes for the subtle option."

Darcy shook her head and ran towards the ship but before they were even half way across the room, guards spilled in through the doorway.

"I'll buy you some time!" Volstagg called.

He too, however, turned and stopped Loki from walking, his muscular hand on Loki's chest.

"If you even think about betraying him-" He started.

"You'll kill me?" Loki frowned as though considering before smiling. "Evidently there will be a line."

And then Volstagg was gone and they were running for the ship again.

"You know," Darcy told him. "If they kill you, it's your own fault."

Loki looked offended. "It's almost as though no one trusts me."

She shook her head and tried not to laugh. "God, you just make friends wherever you go, don't you?"

Jane stood in the back of the ship looking exhausted. Thor was staring at the buttons helplessly.

A crash sounded outside and Thor started desperately pressing random buttons, unsure of what he was doing.

"I thought you said you knew how to fly this thing." Loki said, walking over to stand by his brother. Darcy joined Jane in the back.

"I said 'how hard could it be?'" Thor retorted. The inside of the ship looked just as high tech and confusing as the outside, Darcy felt like she'd walked into a sci-fi film.

Another crash sounded outside and Loki looked out the window. Darcy turned too and saw Volstagg attacking the guards.

"They're on the ship!" Loki said, glaring at Thor who continued to whack random buttons. "Well, whatever you're doing, brother, I suggest you do it faster."

"Shut up, Loki." Thor said. Loki continued to look on in annoyance.

Darcy turned to Jane. "Are you okay?"

Jane smiled weakly. "I've felt better."

Darcy flicked her gaze anxiously outside again. Volstagg continued to battle. He was ridiculously good.

Thor was still frantically pressing every button. What if he couldn't do it? He didn't look like he could. Would it really be like Sif said? The axe for all of them?

Jane swayed on her feet. Darcy pressed her lips together in determination. Well if they were going to do die it might as well be trying to save Jane from this Aether thing.

"You must have missed something." Loki said reasonably.

"I didn't, I'm pressing every button on this thing." Thor said. Darcy had to admit he had a point.

"No, don't hit it, just press it gently." Loki said, reaching out his handcuffed hands as though trying to calm Thor.

"I AM PRESSING IT GENTLY." He roared, slamming the buttons harder than ever. "IT'S NOT WORKING!"

Suddenly the ship lit up, the lights red and blue. She felt a slight vibration under her feet as the engine came to life.

Thor laughed, his loud laugh filling the small space. Darcy felt suddenly hopeful as she felt the ship start to rise. She looked out and saw the wings were spinning like a helicopter.

They jolted forwards, the wings slicing into the few remaining columns.

Loki sighed in agitation. "I think you missed a column."

"Shut up!" Thor snapped.

With a crash they shot through the wall. The floor beneath her lurched and Darcy clung to the edge to stop from falling over. The ship was spinning and Darcy felt like she was going to be sick.

"Look, why don't you let me take over, I'm clearly the best pilot." Loki suggested. Darcy kind of hoped Thor agreed because his flying was nauseating.

"Is that right?" He asked, a hint of humour in his voice as he tapped the buttons. "Well, out of the two of us, which one can actually fly?"

Yeah by throwing your hammer, Darcy thought, clearly that does not transfer to great ship piloting. And Loki had flown those Chitauri things so she had a lot more faith in him.

Before she could say anything, Jane collapsed.

"Oh, dear." Loki said sardonically, without turning around. "Is she dead?"

Darcy ran to her best friend, too busy making sure she was alive to shout at Loki but hoping that Thor hit him or something. Then hoping that Loki hit him back because she was still pissed with Thor too. Stupid Asgardian princes.

"Jane!" Thor called. Darcy's hand closed on Jane's wrist. She was burning up.

The ship lurched as Thor's attention was drawn away from flying.

Jane raised her head, looking weak. Darcy had never seen her so pale. She made Loki look tanned.

"I'm okay." She whispered.

They continued to soar through the air. Suddenly the ship hit a massive building, tearing part of it off and sending it crashing to the ground. They all jolted at the impact.

"Not a word." Thor said to Loki who had obviously opened his mouth to make a sarcastic comment.

"Don't touch me." Jane whispered to Darcy.

"Screw that." Darcy said, one hand clutching the wall, the other still enclosed on Jane's wrist. "I'm practically your seatbelt right now and with Thor flying you need one."

"Now they're following us." Loki said, annoyed. Darcy hoped he wasn't talking about Asgardians. Maybe he meant some pigeons or something. Suddenly the ship started rolling from side to side like Thor was dodging something. Darcy held onto Jane tighter. "Now they're firing at us!" Okay definitely not pigeons then.

"Yeah, thank you for the commentary, Loki!" Thor shouted. "It's not at all distracting!"

Darcy looked up to see what was happening just in time for the ship to hit a massive stone statue of some king, slicing the head clean off as they flung themselves into a cavern.

"Well done, you just decapitated your grandfather." Loki said with a grin.

"Are you sure you don't have any of those muzzles?" Darcy asked desperately. She was worried for Jane and Loki was so not helping.

Thor laughed but didn't reply. She looked up, the smaller ship still following them.

"You know, this is wonderful. This is a tremendous idea." Loki said with levels of sarcasm Darcy didn't think possible. "Let's steal the biggest, most obvious ship in the universe and escape, flying around the city, smashing into everything in sight so everyone can see us. It's brilliant, Thor! It's truly brilliant!"

Darcy lifted her head to yell at him to shut up in time to see Thor push him out of the door. Darcy's mouth gaped open, had Thor seriously just thrown Loki off the ship? He was annoying, yeah but didn't they kind of need him?

He laughed at her expression as he turned and walked to her. The ship shuddered as no one steered it.

"Worry not," He said. "Irritating though he is, I require his use yet."

He picked up Jane like she weighed nothing and placed his other hand on Darcy's arm. His hands were so much bigger than Loki's.

He guided her to the door and before she could prepare, he jumped, taking her and Jane with him.

Their combined weight was considerably more than Loki's so they fell faster, wind whipping past her and reminding her of the illusion that Loki had conjured in his cell.

Her feet landed with a slam, Thor's flying skills meaning that it didn't hurt too much though she did feel the impact rattle her skull.

They landed a split second after Loki and watched as he stumbled, no brother who could fly helping him and his hands still shackled so that he couldn't use them to balance himself.

Darcy looked round. They appeared to be on a smaller ship. She saw the one they'd just been on crash into a building with no one left to fly it.

"I see your time in the dungeons has made you no less graceful, Loki." Fandral called jovially.

Darcy looked and saw he was the one flying their new smaller ship. Loki ignored him but Darcy smiled. Everyone else had threatened to kill him if he betrayed Thor but Fandral just mocked his landing after he was thrown out of a moving ship.

"You lied to me." Loki said to Thor who was laying Jane down at the back of the ship. Loki frowned as though considering this. "I'm impressed."

"I'm glad you're pleased." Thor said irritably. "Now do as you promised. Take us to your secret pathway."

Loki smiled and moved over to where Fandral was stood, taking the steering from him. Apparently the manacles didn't prevent him from steering the ship. Now that Loki was still she saw that the chains had runes inscribed on them. She attempted to decipher them. 'He who wields this hammer commands.'

She bit her lip as she tried not to laugh. Loki had to wear cuffs which essentially said "Thor's bitch" on them?

The ship became considerably smoother as Loki flew so Darcy turned her attention back to Jane. Thor had draped a blanket over her and she looked like she was sleeping.

The ship swerved suddenly. Loki had apparently just dodged a hit from the Asgardian ships which had started firing at them again.

Darcy looked at Thor panicked and he in turn looked at Fandral.

"Fandral." He nodded.

"Right." Fandral replied, picking up a rope and stepping on the edge of the ship.

"For Asgard." He said and jumped off, using the rope to swing onto the Asgardian ship following them.

Darcy's jaw dropped. He may have been a show off but apparently he had good reason to be.

"Nothing personal, boys!" She heard Fandral call as he knocked out the three guards on the ship before saluting Thor.

He was gone in a second, Loki steering them over water, the ship skimming the surface and throwing up spray.

Ahead was a pile of mountains rising directly from the water. Loki was heading straight towards it.

"Loki!" Thor warned, clearly noticing.

"If it were easy, everyone would do it." Loki replied, pushing the lever down. His hair was flying across his face which somehow made his manic grin worse.

"Dude!" Darcy called in warning.

"Are you mad?" Thor shouted.

"Possibly." Loki replied, staring intently forwards.

Definitely, Darcy answered for him.

She looked at Thor, hoping he'd knock Loki out and steer them somewhere that wasn't a mountain side.

He walked past her and held onto Jane.

Apparently he trusted Loki not to ram them into the mountain side. Darcy wasn't so sure.

She squeezed her eyes shut as they approached. They were going to hit it. She tried to prepare herself for the feeling of being smashed against rock but given that it would be a completely new sensation she didn't get very far.

She squinted her eyes open. They would hit it in three...two...one...

And they were through, Loki having steered into a tiny crack in the mountain wall. They were in the mountain and then Darcy felt like all the air had been sucked from her lungs.

She gasped and realised she wasn't breathing the air of Asgard. It was more bitter, everything acidic, the smell of charcoal overwhelming.

They crashed out of a mountain in wherever they were, the ship plummeting in the new atmosphere.

They hit the ground and she was knocked onto her back on the floor.

The ship bounced across the ground. They'd made it, they were wherever they needed to be.

The ship smacked towards the ground again. She would never say Loki was a better pilot again.

As though sensing her thoughts, his voice rang through the dead air. "Ta-da!"

Chapter title from Radioactive by Imagine Dragons. Mixed responses to the last chapter but thanks for making all your criticisms constructive, I'll try to take it all on board. I would just like to defend one thing though, some people said Frigga's death was too sudden. I only wrote it like it was in the film, from Loki's perspective it is that sudden so given that he is in the dungeons when it all happens. Thank you though for the reviews and for being supportive over my updating less. Thanks for reading.