A/N: I borrowed Proxima Midnight's species for purposes of this story. While her species and home planet are unknown, I made it up. Per my artistic liberties, she is a Cernun from the planet Cernunnos. Cernunnos is an ancient Celtic god depicted with antlers. In Gaulish, the name Cernunnos is rooted in the word karnon which means "horn" or "antler". (Info about Cernunnos taken from Wikipedia.)

Rescue Mission

Loki and Thor crouched behind a messy pile of discarded crates, peering around the edges to survey the scene. Jane was easy enough to spot, tied to a post on a platform about 200 yards ahead. Their main obstacle would be the platoon of roughly 80 Cernun warriors between them. Thor growled quietly under his breath, whispering, "They shall rue the day they laid eyes upon her." Loki rolled his own eyes but gave his brother a pat on the shoulder before scuttling to the other end of the pile of crates to peer around the opposite edge. There was another woman tied to a post on a second platform.

"Thor!" Loki whispered, gesturing for him to come over.

Thor furrowed his brows and crept over to him. "What? What do you see?" he asked.

Loki poked over his shoulder with a thumb, "There's another woman."

Surprise flickered across Thor's face and he edged past his brother to peer around the crates. He sucked in a breath and groaned, "Ulik's hairy ball sack! They took Darcy, too."

Loki snorted at the curse and said sardonically, "I take it you know this Darcy well?"

"Well enough," he replied. "She is a dear friend from Midgard. In fact," he grinned ruefully, "she is the woman who tased me, rendering me unconscious when first we met."

Loki grinned as Thor chuckled at the memory. "Oh yes," Loki said, "the woman who defeated the god of thunder…with electricity!"

Thor huffed in amusement. "Aye. You would appreciate the irony of that. Though I remind you I was mortal at the time." Loki scoffed as Thor peered out again, scrutinizing the platoon and the distance between the women from each other. "I believe this rescue mission just got a little more complicated."

"Perhaps," Loki said, "but still manageable, I think. We split up. You rescue your lady love," he gestured to one side of the pile of crates in the general direction of Jane, then turned and gestured to the other side, "while I rescue my new best friend."

Thor smirked at that. "I wish you well attempting friendship with her, brother. She may be feisty and to your liking, but she is kind and compassionate whereas you…are not."

"You wound me."

"I speak the truth," Thor shot back. "It is a solid plan," he conceded, pulling Mjolnir from his belt and hefting it in his hand.

"Not particularly – merely you go one way, I go the other. Not much of a…Thor, don't be an idiot," Loki sighed exasperatedly.

Thor's brows shot up. "What?"

"You can't use Mjolnir."

"What do you mean I can't use Mjolnir?" he whispered, affronted.

Loki heaved another exaggerated sigh and tilted his head back. "We will be fighting in close quarters, you buffoon. Whether you throw it or use it to summon lightning, you are likely to catch the ladies in the crossfire."

"Oh. I hadn't thought of that."

Loki rolled his eyes. "Clearly."

Thor hooked Mjolnir back to his belt and they pondered silently for a moment before Loki spoke up again. "I think a…vintage approach…may work best." Thor eyeballed him questioningly. Loki grounded himself, feeling the power of the earth beneath his feet rising through him as he tapped into his Seidr and conjured a sword and shield inspired by the Vikings who used to worship them. The shield was round, green, and held a gold image of Loki's horned helmet in the center. Whereas the Vikings used wooden shields, Loki's was made of metal and much more likely to endure the coming battle.

Thor grinned in excitement, "Yes! Great idea! Do me!"

Loki smirked and conjured a sturdy axe into Thor's right hand and a shield on his left forearm.

"Ha! Well done, brother! I – " he cut off as he turned the shield to inspect it. "No. Change it."

Loki's smirk widened as he chuckled. "It is a perfectly good shield. I see no reason to change it," he said mischievously.

Thor tapped his axe against the horned helmet on his shield. "I will not go into battle with your insignia. Make it red, with my hammer."

Loki blinked and cocked his head. "No."

"Lokiii," Thor whined.

Loki gestured around the crates. "Do you wish to rescue your Jane? Surely you will not let my insignia stand in your way? Besides, you can paint it red yourself, with the blood of your enemies."

Thor scowled and grumbled to himself while maneuvering to the edge of their shelter closest to Jane. Loki snickered while positioning himself on the other edge of their shelter, peering around the corner to lay eyes on Darcy. He inhaled deeply through his nose, centering himself as he mentally drew a path to her through the Cernuns. His normally cheerful and mischievous expression hardened, eyes narrowed and focused completely on his mission. He may be the god of mischief, but he was also a hardened warrior of Asgard. He sneered at his enemies and, with a bloodthirsty smile, stepped forth into battle.

oOo

Darcy was having a bad day. She had been abducted by aliens, knocked unconscious, and tied to a pole where she had been standing for hours. Her whole body hurt but she was particularly steamed off that she had been unconscious for the trip from Earth to Wherever The Heck They Were. In fact, she had ranted at the creepy-as-heck goat-horned aliens about the travesty of missing out on experiencing her first ever foray off planet, abduction aside, with such passion that they eventually shoved a rag down her throat to shut her up.

She felt her irritation was warranted. She had questions. Did they come via spaceship? Bifrost? Portal? If one is going to be abducted by aliens, she rather thought one deserved to experience the abduction properly. For all she experienced of it, she may as well have been thrown in the back of a van like any other mundane earthly kidnapping.

Darcy had had plenty of time in her current predicament to come to terms with the fact that her irritation, while justified, was serving to distract her from the horror of the unknown. When she let her thoughts touch on the reality of her situation, she was aware that she was expendable. She didn't know exactly what these aliens wanted and couldn't understand their language, but she wasn't an idiot. Jane was the target. Or rather, Thor was the target and Jane was the bait. Darcy was the unlucky fool in close proximity to Jane and, since apparently all humans look alike as far as these aliens were concerned, she had been nabbed with her. At least that's what Darcy could figure from body language as their abductors had argued amongst themselves gesturing between Darcy and Jane in confusion before shrugging and zapping them both at the base of their skulls rendering them most unfairly unconscious.

She wiggled a little to keep the blood flowing to her extremities. Her hands and feet tingled painfully. This sucked but at least her death wouldn't be boring. The waiting, however, was incredibly boring. This surprised Darcy somewhat as she would not have imagined being bored while on an alien planet surrounded by aliens who would probably kill her with some weird alien weapon. But being tied to a pole, gagged, and ignored for hours on end left her with little to do, especially since she couldn't catch up on the hot alien gossip since she couldn't understand the freaking language. She rolled her eyes skyward and sighed, which led to her gagging yet again on the nasty rag in her throat.

A commotion at the front lines caught her attention. Finally, something was happening. She squinted and saw a flash of red before the horned soldiers started moving quickly around her. I'll bet it's Thor, she thought, pleased. At least Jane would be getting out of here. Darcy just hoped the aliens didn't kill her before Thor could get to her, too. She strained at her bindings, craning her neck to see through the melee. There seemed to be two skirmishes – one on the Jane side of the battlefield and one on her side! This was good news! She and Jane would be rescued simultaneously, giving her a better chance to live through this! The aliens in front of her finally moved aside allowing Darcy a better view down the battlefield. Aha! There! She spotted her incoming hero, or at least part of him. She could see a green cape fluttering behind a green and gold shield with something gold poking over the top of the shield. She blinked furiously as her left contact swam in her eye for a moment. Once her vision refocused, she gasped in confusion. Horror? Maybe. Definitely confusion. She knew that gold helmet with the giant horns from the news. It was Loki.

Darcy watched curiously as Loki battled. In New York he had been flying around zapping people with a scepter. This was a completely different Loki she was seeing in front of her. He was charging forward, ramming the bad guys with his shield, severing limbs and heads with the sword and…holy cow! Darcy's eyes widened as she watched an alien get skewered on the horns and Loki toss his head with a roar, sending the shish-kabobbed guy flying with his neck power alone. Yeesh. Loki Horns: 1; Alien Horns: 0. Loki's gaze flicked up and they made eye contact for a split second. Darcy stopped breathing. His face was covered in a red mist of blood, and she could feel the intensity of his stare in her bones. She felt her skin break out in gooseflesh. In an instant, his eyes returned to the fight and Darcy's heart stuttered back into its normal rhythm, though perhaps a bit faster as adrenaline began to course through her veins.

Darcy wiggled more against her bindings, willing her hands and feet to regain their feeling quickly. They tingled painfully but she kept wiggling. In her haste, she began to breathe faster which caused her to gag even more around the rag. Darcy stilled for a moment and focused on breathing deeply through her nose. Breathe through your nose and wiggle your toes, she thought to herself, remembering a phrase a dental hygienist told her once when she gagged through a cleaning. She wiggled her fingers, too. The feeling was starting to return and the pain was starting to abate somewhat.

While she focused inwardly on breathing and wiggling, her eyes were locked onto Loki. He was gaining ground rapidly and she could see the bloodlust in his eyes as he snarled and slashed furiously at the horde surrounding him. There was something primal about the way he was moving; he swung his sword with a vengeance, he slammed his shield into bodies with a bone-crunching brutality, and he forged ahead like he had no fear of death or injury. It was mesmerizing. Darcy wasn't sure if it was mesmerizing like a hero coming to the rescue or mesmerizing like a train wreck. She wasn't quite ready to parse that out just yet. All she knew was that he had her full and complete attention.

Ultimately, it took a few minutes more before Loki got to her. By the time he had slashed and bashed his way to the platform upon which she was standing, most of the aliens guarding her had made a tactical retreat and were regrouping somewhere behind her, leaving only two brutes left between them. From this close, Darcy could see Loki's eyes narrow and flick back and forth between the two guards, assessing them. Loki was drenched in blood and there were bits of horrifying things clinging to his shield. Darcy really didn't want to know. She gagged again.

Her gag startled one of the guards and he jerked his spear arm in surprise. Loki appeared to take that as an invitation as he growled and lunged forward, skewering the jumpy guard with one hand and throwing his shield arm to the side to break the nose of the other guard before deftly twirling and relieving broken-nose-guy of his head. Hot blood splashed across Darcy's arm. She flinched and gagged again.

Loki impaled his sword on headless-guy's body, leaving it standing straight up and flicked a dagger out from his waist. He was behind her in an instant, cutting the ropes from her wrists and ankles. As soon as her hands were free, Darcy reached in her mouth with half-numb half-tingly fingers and tried to grasp the rag. Her pincer grasp was not great, but she finally managed well enough to pull the blasted thing out of her throat, gagging the whole way. She doubled over, eyes watering and dry heaved.

Loki slipped his dagger into a sheath on his hip and retrieved his sword before approaching her. "Come," he said as he wrapped his shield arm around her, pressing his forearm into her collarbone and pulling her back flush to his chest. Darcy's vision was entirely obscured by the back of the shield, which, curiously, was gold. Loki began to move forward, and Darcy stumbled over her feet and flailed her arms before awkwardly latching onto his forearm, her elbows bent tight to her body. She didn't realize she had squeezed her eyes shut until he pulled his forearm out from her body a few inches and said, "Stairs." Darcy opened her eyes to look down at her feet through the gap between her body and his arm, to which her hands still clutched desperately. They navigated the few short stairs awkwardly but quickly and Darcy saw her Fall fashion boots (heelless, thank the gods) touch down on coppery extraterrestrial dirt before things really got wild.

Darcy couldn't see anything around the shield but she could tell from the way Loki planted his feet and braced himself that they were about to be attacked. The first clang of a weapon against the metal shield was much louder than she had expected and she jumped as a jolt of adrenalin shot through her body. Darcy released Loki's arm and threw her own forearms in front of her face as he fought around her, sword arm bending and thrusting to her right and shield arm pushing and pulling directly in front of her. Loki's shield arm smacked into her forearms, squishing her into the leather and metal of his armor, which scraped across the back of her head as he moved. Darcy whimpered as her body was ping-ponged between Loki's chest and forearm while the clanging and scraping of swords and spears against the metal shield reverberated around her like she had her head inside of a giant bell. That, along with the screams and growls surrounding them, was entirely overwhelming.

In all the twisting and turning Loki was doing and the bouncing around between his chest and arm she was doing, Darcy ended up sideways with his bicep wrapped around her back and his forearm braced against her left shoulder while her right shoulder dug into his ribs. Her own arms were still covering her face. It was while she was in this position that she felt Loki stiffen and mutter, "Oh, shit." A flare of panic erupted within her but before she could react, something slammed into the shield with immense force, twisting her body a quarter turn so she was face-first into Loki's armor. His arm crushed against her back painfully, knocking the wind out of her. While she desperately willed her lungs to refill with air, she heard Loki grunting and straining and felt his body bend slightly back at the waist, pulling her own body forward. His feet were planted wide in a lunge, his back leg bending slowly dropping his knee closer to the ground as a tremendous pressure from the other side of the shield pushed down on them. Darcy's hands scrabbled at his armor, latching onto a leather strap that crossed his chest. Loki grunted. She wheezed for air and cringed as she felt the metal of the shield digging into her lower back.

Slowly the crushing weight continued to push down on them until Darcy's feet lifted off the ground and she was suspended in the air. Instinctively, Darcy kicked out, searching for purchase on any surface. Her foot made contact with something on the other side of the shield which was followed by a bellow somewhere over her head and the weight lifted off ever-so-slightly, causing her to slip just enough for her toes to brush the dirt. Loki pressed his advantage, immediately lunging forward with a throaty growl and sweeping his sword in an arc over the shield. The weight lifted off completely and Darcy stumbled, yanking on the leather strap she had yet to relinquish as the back of her head banged into the inside of the shield.

Darcy grunted in pain and her vision narrowed as she became light-headed. She stood, dazed, focusing hard on remaining on her feet and willing the tunnel vision to fade. She was still in an odd warrior's embrace, directly facing a gold inverted arch flecked with blood on Loki's breastplate, his left arm curled around her protectively. She felt a tug at the strap she was still clutching, and her head lolled backward as she looked up through the growing darkness to see him adjusting the armor across his shoulder. His eyes flicked to hers and widened in surprise.

"Oh, no you don't!" Loki warned. He shook her shoulders lightly and propped her head back up with his forearm. She felt his knuckles dig into her cheek and the pommel of his sword brush against her shoulder. There was a light touch at her temple and through the haze of her fading vision, she glimpsed a flash of green light just before the world immediately came back into sharp focus. She gasped and locked eyes with him. There was a slight glow in the green of his irises that faded instantly to a more natural green. He stared at her intensely for merely a second before lifting his gaze over her head and scanning side-to-side.

"We're almost through," he said, twirling his sword once before stabbing it forward, out of Darcy's view. She nodded, unable to form words, and willed her body to keep going. She uncurled her fingers from the strap crossing his chest just as a sharp impact to his shield jostled her, causing her to stumble in such a way that her head somehow ended up in his left armpit, left hand grasping the metal-ridged lapel of his overcoat and right arm flailing, exposed, out from under his shield arm. A triple-pronged spear swung perilously close to her right hand and she snatched it back in alarm. She began to withdraw back to the relative safety of Loki's chest when she spied one of the bad guys sneaking up on them, his yellow eyes focused on Loki's back. He held the severed tip of a spear in his hand and raised it menacingly.

Loki was focused on the fight in front of him and seemingly oblivious to the threat behind him. Darcy didn't have time to think, she just reacted. The dagger on Loki's hip was sheathed right next to her so she grabbed it and swung it upward, under Loki's arm and into the warrior's ribs. The dagger was heavier than she expected and though it cut through flesh easily, Darcy felt the tip lodge onto bone so she let go, unable to push it further. The warrior shrieked and his eyes locked onto hers incredulously. Darcy squeaked then lost sight of him as Loki pivoted around her, bringing the inside of his shield back into her view. He swung and jabbed with his sword, pulling her tight against his chest with his shield arm, as he had at the beginning of the battle.

Loki paused, jammed his sword down, and crouched, pulling Darcy down with him. When they stood upright again, he had the dagger in his right hand and gave either side of the blade a quick wipe against his leg before tucking it back in its sheath. He tilted his head, sunlight reflecting off the tall golden horns, and looked down at her as he reached to the side and snatched up his sword, once again poking straight up from a body. "Well done," he said with smirk. "I thank you." Darcy just stared up at him wide-eyed and feeling a little nauseated about stabbing someone. Even if that someone was a murderous kidnapping alien. "Ah," he said. He lunged and stabbed then returned his assessing gaze back to her face. "Your first." He spared a sympathetic smile for her before pulling her back a step and swinging his sword again.

Darcy felt detached from her body. Her ears were ringing as she took in what little she could see of her surroundings, and it felt as if time slowed down. She was aware of Loki moving around her and prodding her along with him. Her feet stumbled forward but she couldn't really feel them. She vaguely thought she might have heard her name. Suddenly he spun her around to face him, jolting her back into awareness.

"Wha-?" she gasped with a tiny shake of her head.

He crouched slightly, bringing himself face-to-face with her behind the shield, and stared intently into her eyes. Darcy's breathing quickened as her eyes flicked frantically side to side.

"Darcy." He spoke her name firmly and she snapped her gaze to his. "We are almost done. Do you think you can make it?"

"I…we…" she trailed off as Loki popped his head up and squished her to his chest. She felt his sword arm move rapidly then still. He stepped back and poked his face back down in front of hers.

"You can do this. You've defeated the god of thunder," he said with a grin. She snorted. "You can easily take…" He leaned his head to the side, peering around the shield and squinting one eye before facing her again, "…seven steps that way," he gestured with his head, banging a horn against his shield. "Ow."

Darcy snickered despite herself. Loki flashed her another grin, eyes twinkling, before popping back up and swinging his sword around again. This particular foe took a little longer to dispatch and Darcy was on the verge of feeling dizzy from all the turning in circles they did as Loki fought. Finally, the clanging against the shield ceased and Loki turned them one more time presumably to face their exit route.

"Watch your step," he said as he began to move them forward. Darcy looked down and grimaced as she stepped over legs and arms. Loki paused and looked over his shoulder, humming thoughtfully. He looked forward again, off into the distance with a calculating stare, then glanced down at her.

"Change of plans," he said calmly. He poked his sword in another body and crouched down to be eye-level with her again. "Place your arms around my neck," he ordered.

Darcy cautiously reached forward and did as she was told, looking at him questioningly. He stood abruptly and swiftly grabbed the back of her left thigh, pulling it over his hip, leaving her balancing on her right toes. She squawked in surprise. The shield on his arm caused him to fumble a bit at her right leg, but she got the message and swung it up, crossing her ankles behind him. He hefted her to ostensibly a more comfortable position before curling his left arm around her back, holding the shield over her like a giant turtle shell. He yanked his sword free and took off running.

It was jarring, being carried while he ran. Her wrists burned from having been tied tightly all day, so she was grasping her forearms around his neck, just above the rope burns. She could feel Loki breathing heavily through the rise and fall of his chest against hers, and her ear kept bumping uncomfortably into the metal cheek guard of Loki's helmet, creating a whomp-whomp sound in her left ear. Somehow through the pain and discomfort, she became aware of a low rumbling noise in the background.

Once again, Darcy realized she had squeezed her eyes shut unintentionally and willed them back open. "Oh my god," she breathed.

"Yes, I am," Loki quipped, "and I've got you," he added seriously.

Darcy tightened her hold on him and stared in horror at the battlefield behind them. The first thing that registered was the sheer destruction left in Loki's wake. The red dirt was muddied, drenched in blood and gore. Bodies and severed body parts littered the field along with broken spears and swords. The thought that she was currently clinging to the force of nature that destroyed half an army in one go came unbidden and she forcefully shoved it to the back of her mind to deal with later.

The next thing that Darcy noticed was the source of the rumbling. A herd of large creatures was charging toward them. They looked kind of like rhinos, only with more horns, and they were being ridden by more of the alien warriors.

As she watched, most of the herd angled away from them to Darcy's right. But four continued onward in their direction. She looked to the right to see where the rest of them were going and gasped as she caught sight of Thor. He had also left a horrifying trail of destruction behind him and was still fighting, swinging an axe and holding a shield identical to Loki's. Darcy squeezed her eyes shut for a moment as he cleaved a head in two. Jane was clinging to Thor much the same as Darcy clung to Loki, with arms and legs wrapped around his bulk.

Darcy saw when Thor noticed the not-rhinos stampeding toward him. Jane disappeared from view as Thor pulled the shield in close, ducked his head behind it, and charged forward like a bull, knocking aliens down and trampling them as he ran. Many of them sprang up behind him and chased after him, swords and spears held aloft. With a few more swings of his axe, Thor was finally ahead of the horde, his red cape streaming behind him.

He and Loki angled toward each other, and Darcy squeezed her arms and legs even tighter in fear as the not-rhinos were almost upon them. The instant Loki and Thor were within arm's reach of each other, they both looked up to the sky and yelled, "HEIMDALL!" in unison. They were still running when the bifrost sucked them up and the jolt of forward motion to upward motion made Darcy's stomach lurch.

She forced her eyes to stay open without blinking so she could see bifrost travel in all its glory. The alien world disappeared in an instant and Darcy marveled at the stars and galaxies she glimpsed through a curtain of rainbow light. Loki heaved a sigh and Darcy felt him relax under her as they were pulled safely through the cosmos. It only lasted about 30 seconds before Loki was jogging to a stop in a strange golden room. Still clinging to him like a monkey, Darcy looked around the room and watched, wide-eyed and fascinated, as giant gears turned, moving the observatory around until the portal they'd come through closed and the shining lights disappeared.

Loki made a disgusted sound and turned bringing into Darcy's view the sight of Thor and Jane playing an epic game of tonsil hockey. "Ew, gross," she said, scrunching up her nose and turning her face into Loki's collar. He chuckled and she felt large hands splay across her hips.

"You are safe, Lady Darcy," he said.

"Oh, right." Darcy loosened her hold on him and dropped one leg experimentally, toeing around for the floor. Loki bent slightly at the waist and her foot found the ground. She quickly released her other limbs from his person and took a wobbly step back to look up at him.

"Thank you for saving me," she said. "I…I didn't expect that."

Loki tilted his horned head and smiled at her thoughtfully. "You are quite possibly my third favorite person in the entire universe," he said, eyes twinkling. "How could I leave you there?"

"I…wha-…you don't even know me!" Darcy stuttered. "Hang on, third favorite?"

Loki tilted his head back and cackled before grimacing slightly. He reached up and removed his humongous helmet and rolled his neck with a sigh. Hefting the helmet under his arm, he smiled down at her again, messy black hair sliding forward across red-misted cheeks. "In all my years, I have never laughed so hard as I did when I heard tell of the sweet Midgardian woman who felled the beast that is my brother with his own element!" He cackled again, eyes squinting in delight. "I have longed to meet you, my lady!"

Loki reached forward and swept her fingers into his own, gently lifting her hand to his lips and holding her gaze as he placed a featherlight kiss to her knuckles. Darcy swooned a little on the inside.

"Ah! Yes, indeed!" Thor boomed, joining them with an arm around Jane's waist. Darcy and Jane made eye contact and grinned at each other, grateful to be alive and away from the aliens…well, the scary kidnapping aliens.

"My brother was most pleased with the irony of my defeat at your hands!" Thor bowed slightly to Darcy with a grin.

"Aye," Loki replied, snickering, "and she did not disappoint during battle, either!"

"Oh? How so?" Thor asked as Darcy furrowed her brows in confusion.

"You see, brother, we were in a most uncomfortable position of being crushed by a great beast of a Cernun warrior, the lady sandwiched between us and dangling in the air, when she landed a fearsome kick to his bǫllr!" Thor howled with laughter and, while "bǫllr" was a new word, Darcy had a pretty good idea what it meant. She caught Jane's eye with a smirk and they dissolved into giggles.

Thor and Loki clasped each other's shoulders fondly. Jane looked around, confused and asked, "Where'd your axe go? And your shield?" Darcy realized Loki's sword and shield were missing, too. Curious.

"Ah," Loki said, "I had conjured them specifically for this battle. I banished them upon our arrival as we have no need of them anymore."

"But that requires molecular manipulation! How do you do it? What do you use as a power source?"

"Jaaaaane," Darcy whined, "I wanna know, too, but maybe later, yeah?" She was aching terribly from the abuse her body had endured all day and wanted nothing more than to take a hot bath and go to sleep.

"Oh, right, yes," Jane said sheepishly before looking sharply at Loki. "But we'll talk later, right?" Loki bowed his head toward her with a polite, "Of course."

It occurred to Darcy she hadn't had much of an opportunity to take in the observatory, so she spun on her heel to look around and gasped when she saw the enormous, beautiful man standing on a dais. He was clothed in golden armor with a golden helmet (also with horns, though slightly less ostentatious than Loki's) and he was holding a humongous golden sword. Even his eyes were a mesmerizing gold that gleamed knowingly. "Heimdall?" she squeaked.

He nodded once, "Welcome to Asgard, Darcy Lewis of Midgard."

"Thanks. And thanks for saving us from the space rhinos."

Heimdall laughed, a rich baritone that echoed pleasantly throughout the observatory. Thor and Loki looked curiously at Heimdall as if they had never seen him laugh before.

"I am pleased you have returned safely," he said with a chuckle. He narrowed his golden eyes at her and said, "Though not fully unharmed. Our healers will tend to you." And with that, he straightened and turned his gaze somewhere about five feet over Darcy's head and beyond the golden walls of the observatory.

Thor was holding both of Jane's hands gently in one of his own, examining the rope burns on her wrists. "Brother?" he raised a questioning brow to Loki.

"Of course," Loki said regally. He set his helmet on the floor, placed a long finger to each of Jane's wrists and there was a flash of green.

Nothing looked different, but Jane sighed in relief and thanked Loki who then turned to Darcy and held his hands out. "May I?" he inquired. Darcy placed her hands in his, palm-to-palm. He gently rubbed his thumbs over her wrists and, with another flash of green, the pain faded.

"Thank you!" Darcy gushed, throwing her arms around him in a hug. Loki's answering chuckle rumbled against the ear she had pressed to his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, one hand cupping her shoulder and the other splayed across her back. As he moved to release her, his fingers brushed against a spot on her lower back and Darcy hissed in pain. Instantly, his hands were on both of her shoulders, and he gently turned her away from him. Before she could protest, he had grasped the hem of her shirt and flipped it up in the back.

"How did this happen?" he demanded.

Darcy looked over her shoulder but, try as she might, she couldn't see the small of her back. "What?" she asked, "What is it?"

Jane came around to inspect Darcy's back and made a sympathetic sound. "Ooh, Darcy. That's a nasty bruise. It's all across your back."

Darcy thought for a moment then remembered when the shield was digging into her. "Oh, I'll bet it's from when I was a Darcy sandwich," she said. She felt cool fingers ghost over the bruise and the pain receded.

"Come," Loki said, smoothing her shirt back down. "Let us get you both to the healers. Heimdall," he turned to the golden sentinel, "I thank you for your assistance. My brother and I are, as always, in your debt."

Heimdall inclined his head. "Your highness," he said, then turned back to his watch.

Loki stepped forward, casually scooping his helmet up by a single horn, and beckoned to Darcy, holding his arm out to her. She tucked her arm under his and wrapped her fingers around his gold-plated vambrace, allowing him to lead her from the observatory. Upon exiting, though, she stopped and stared down in wonder. The infamous rainbow bridge was under her feet. She let go of Loki's arm and crouched down to place her palms on the bridge. It was smooth and warm to the touch. She could feel a pulsing under the surface and watched, spellbound, as the colors seemed to glitter and swirl with energy. The bridge felt alive.

A creak of leather alerted Darcy to Loki crouching next to her. He laid a palm to the bridge as well and briefly closed his eyes with a smile. "It is wondrous, is it not?"

Darcy hummed in agreement. "It feels like it's…" she trailed off in embarrassment before gathering herself and looking at Loki. "Is it…alive?" She cringed at the absurdity of her question.

However, Loki just looked at her with some surprise that melted into a pleased expression. "In a way, it is," he said. "It does not breathe or bleed, but it flows with Seidr…a kind of energy. Magic, if you will," he clarified when she looked at him in confusion. "And it has some small amount of sentience, I believe, though I have been unable to prove it to my satisfaction." He smiled wistfully at the bridge then turned to her again. "Now come. You need a healer." He extended his hand, helping her up, and tucked her arm back into his.

They began the long walk down the bridge. At first, Darcy kept her eyes glued to the bridge, watching the lights dance around her feet. If she had to ascribe an emotion to the bridge, she rather thought it might feel happy. She smiled and the lights seemed to dance brighter and even more cheerfully around her feet. Eventually, she dragged her gaze up when Loki murmured her name. "Look," he said, pointing with his helmet. Darcy looked where he indicated and gasped. A meteor shower was raining across the sky, and what a sky! Rather than the inky black of night that she was accustomed to on Earth, the Asgardian sky was a riot of colors, like a sunset spilling into the night and sprinkled with twinkling stars. She could even see stellar nurseries making cloudy formations. It was mind-boggling to be able to see with the naked eye.

"You see this every day?!"

"Well, every night, yes," Loki chuckled.

"Do you even realize how lucky you are?"

Loki was quiet and Darcy chanced a glance up at him. He was looking thoughtfully toward the city and a golden castle rising up from its midst. He closed his eyes for a moment and breathed deeply. His eyes fluttered open and he glanced down at her, opening his mouth to reply. However, whatever he was about to say was cut off by Thor's happy shout of, "Balder!"

Two riderless horses were approaching at a trot. They both drew to Thor as he and Jane were in the lead of their little party. Thor stroked a white horse fondly on the neck then turned to the brown horse that was nudging him playfully, "And Hulda, you little thief!"

"Hey now!" Loki called out in mock indignation. "How dare you accuse my sweet Hulda of thievery!" He tugged Darcy forward to join the others.

"Have you noticed, brother, that I have been bereft of my winged helmet since that miserable coronation day?"

"Not particularly, no."

"Well, I assure you it went missing in the stables before we rode off on our ill-advised trip to Jotunheim."

"Your ill-advised trip. If you recall, I advised against it."

Thor ignored Loki's comment. "And I guarantee it will turn up in your tricky little mare's stall. Quite possibly along with one of my vambraces and any number of other shiny baubles that have gone missing from my person over the past century. In fact, I'm sure there is a coin purse in there somewhere, as well."

"Not anymore. I spent it ages ago."

"You are a troll, Loki. And your horse suits you well." Darcy and Jane couldn't help giggling at the brothers' antics.

"You should not insult her so. Then perhaps she would not steal from you."

"Aha! You admit it! She is a thief!"

"I admit no such thing. I said perhaps. Perhaps she is not the one stealing from you." Loki turned to Hulda and stroked her nose. "I believe you have been framed, sweetheart," he cooed. "Is big, bad Balder stealing from that oaf and framing you?" Hulda nuzzled Loki while Balder snorted and stamped his foot. Darcy laughed outright.

"We shall see. I shall examine your stall when we return, madame!" Thor poked Hulda's shoulder. She turned her big brown face to him and nuzzled his arm sweetly. "Aw, I can't stay mad at you," Thor crooned, kissing her nose.

As Thor turned to Jane and Balder, Darcy approached Hulda, holding her hand out slowly. The mare lipped her palm and huffed in her hand before ducking her head under Darcy's hand. Darcy laughed and began petting her. "You are a sweet girl," she said.

"I don't know how it is," Thor called over his shoulder as he adjusted the saddle, "that my infuriating and obnoxious brother manages to have the absolute sweetest horse in all the realms. One would think he would have corrupted her, by now."

"Never!" Loki gasped, affronted.

"Though she is a tricky little beast and that does suit his personality well."

"I'm insulted. Hulda's insulted, too, aren't you, girl? You're not tricky. You are intelligent. Unlike some others present."

Thor scoffed and turned back to Jane, lifting her atop Balder. Loki looked at Darcy over Hulda's nose. "Pay no heed to my brother. He is merely jealous. Balder is a giant pain in the ass and would abandon him on the battlefield if it suited him," he said with a grin.

"That only happened once!" Thor shot back. "And it was a misunderstanding!"

"So you say."

Loki held his hand out to Darcy and guided her around to Hulda's side. He gave her a boost then swung himself up in the saddle behind her, reaching around her to take the reins. Darcy fluttered her hands about, unsure what to do with them, before resting them awkwardly on her thighs. There was an odd comfort in the familiarity of being pressed tight to Loki's chest with his arms reaching around her. Darcy was just grateful they were no longer in a battle and she could relax now. When Hulda began walking forward, Darcy had a minor balance panic and flailed her arms. Loki snaked an arm around her waist with a low, "I've got you," and Darcy's stomach did a little flip. Boldly, she rested one hand on his arm, the other draping casually over her thigh and allowed herself to lean back against Loki's sturdy chest, taking comfort in his presence as Hulda carried them safely onward to Asgard.