Tony, being a man of little trust in higher authorities to handle situations like this to his liking, was keeping a close eye on the activities of SHIELD. Specifically, he'd hacked their locating system to monitor the progress on tracking Loki. He'd fought
mortal men who were able to put his loved ones in more danger than he'd thought possible. He wasn't taking his chances with a mentally unbalanced god. From the data that JARVIS had gathered, they were sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on
the planet – cellphones, laptops and the like. If it connected to a satellite, it was their eyes and ears. The data flowing through the facial recognition being run by SHIELD was simultaneously flashing across the screens Tony had set up around his
personal work station at Stark Tower. He had his suit on hand and was ready to fly out as soon as a match was made.

This time, Tony was keeping those close to him out of the line of fire. Pepper was on a private jet marked for one of the smaller DC office, much to her chagrined, and Darcy…

He sighed. He didn't really know what to make of the whole situation with Darcy, especially after having it dropped on him in the middle of a crisis. He just needed to keep her safe long enough to beat the bad guy, let things settle, and then maybe figure
it out on the fly after that. Even more so than Pepper, Tony needed her as far away from the action as possible, so he sent her and her pet astrophysicist half way across the world with the hasty excuse of unused vacation time. Well, he knew that
like himself, Jane had trouble separating work from play, so he sent them on a pseudo vacation that promised connections for the scientist and free drinks for Darcy.

"Sir." JARVIS' voice rung through the room, breaking Tony out of his musings. "Shield's systems have reported a sighting. Sixty-seven percent match." There was a pause. "Seventy-nine percent."

He let out a deep breath, taking several lengthy strides across the room to where his suit was stored. "Location?"

"Stuttgart, Germany." Tony halted midstride. He was sure that the shrapnel in his chest had finally reached his heart because it seemed to stop abruptly and grow so heavy that he could feel it sink into his gut. "Sir, he appears to in attendance of Stuttgart
Science Gala

"You know, when Tony said vacation I envisioned warm sun and sandy beaches, not snotty doctors in fancy dresses." Darcy tugged a strand of hair loose from her elegantly coifed updo. It was too perfect and she needed to fix that. The air-conditioning-induced
breeze blew a couple other bits loose and she could see them tumbling down the sides of her face in the rear view mirror from the back seat of whatever expensive brand of car she and her boss currently sat in. That fancy stylist would have a conniption
if she saw the Darcy version of her masterpiece, but the former intern was happy with it. "I mean, like, girls gone wild level craziness. The kind where I don't actually remember half of the trip."

"Darcy, can you please not?" Jane was fidgeting in her fancy designer gown, and it didn't miss her assistant's notice that the woman had been brought and deep blue elegant piece of fashion while she was provided a black cocktail dress – one that cost
more than her entire college tuition and actually managed to look sexy without being slutty with its high neck and flared hemline, but still.

"Come on," she pouted. "You have to admit that you're as uncomfortable as I am."

"Only because of the dress code." A muttered 'I'm pretty sure you and I got a different dress code,' from Darcy."This is a good networking opportunity." Jane blushed a pretty shade of pink. "And people… people actually want to discuss theory
with me now."

"Aww." The younger women felt a warm glow of affection intrude on her otherwise drab mood. "You're so cute when you get all Humble Genius."

"Shut up." Her favorite scientist stuck her tongue out in a moment of comfortable childishness, but they were both soon distracted as their driver pulled up to the imposing Stuttgart Museum. Being escorted out onto a roped off golden carpet really put
things in perspective. There were cameras flashing left and right and Darcy had to wonder if any of them even knew who the two women were.

Jane remained poised and controlled under the gala limelight, a feat that her companion had an endless stock of respect for. She took the lead, answering any questions that the media frenzy directed their way, while Darcy hung back and made the occasional
– but situationally appropriate, gosh Janie – quips that got a chuckle out of those who held the microphones. The 20 feet of carpet felt like 20 miles as more and more reporters realized that Jane was the mind and developer of the Foster Theory, which
had soaked its way into even the tiniest crevasses of the scientific community following SHIELDs release of Jane's findings after she became an official Stark employee. They mostly left Darcy alone once they figured out she was just the comic-relief
side-kick, though there were some who made not so subtle, not to mention oh-so-insulting, references to various parts of her body.

By the time the two finally reached the front steps of the museum Darcy was exhausted. Jane was still in a Science! glow, but Darcy's feet were already killing her, and one of her garter clips had come undone and she needed to find an area that was less
crowded – did this museum even have a bathroom inside – to readjust without giving anyone a show.

It really should have come as no surprise that she would trip as she made her way up the stairs. A caught heel, because really that dog gamn dress was ridiculous and who needs to walk anyway, and suddenly she was much farther forward that she meant
to be. If only that were the worst of itthough; no, falling onto the steps would be ten times less embarrassing than actually falling onto a human being. It's not like he was there half a second earliereither. He just happened to cross
her path the exactly moment her body decided to say, "fuck it". Dude must've been a ninja though, because he not onlymanaged to avoid most of her descending body, but grabbedher waist quick enough to guide her body around his and
into this – actually smooth AF – dip that probably looked like it was some rehearsed waltz-ish dance or whatever (Darcy is very familiar with the grinding kind of dancing, but anything that requires actual choreography and practice just concludeswith
her on her ass). She was colored impressed, as heappearedto be holding the majority of her body weight in midair with no issue and hadsomehow notallowed any part of her flailing upper body to come in contact with the stairs.

Her eyes must have been the size of a hyperbolicallylarge objectin her shock, but despite that her line of vision narrowed to the man's face taking up most of the view. Dude was handsome in an older-and-experienced-but-still-got-some-juvinile-playfulness-thing-going-on
kind of way. If her breath wasn't already nonexistent from, you know, falling, it might have been a little on the airy side. Also, dude had the bluest damn eyes she'd ever seen. They almost didn't seem real, like the sort of artificial intensity you
get from colored contacts, but she didn't see the subtle outline of any lenses around his iris to confirm this. Could also just be super rad genetics.

"Thanks, man." Oh, really fucking eloquent, Darcy. A real Shakespeare you are. He gave her a barely-there smirk and lifted her back into a standing position, before striding off without a word. He exited off to the side, weaving through the crowd
of photographers and into the shadow of the night. The only thing that she could think to say in response was, "wow, those arms could probably liftfive of me with no strain."

"Darcy? There you are!" Jane grabbed her arm, shaking her from her reverie over the other things those arms could do for her. "I lost you for a second. We should head inside now."

"Yeah, k. "

Darcy was bored out of her mind. Jane had immediately been assimilated into the crowd of fellow Science! enthusiasts, leaving her to just sort of stand around spacing out. She couldn't even find a hot dude to get her flirt on with because scientists were
apparently all super old, Jane being the singular exception. That didn't stop creepy old men from asking her to dance and letting their hands wander a little too low for her tastes. After the third time she just started turning down any invitations
sent her way. The champagne here was great, but wouldn't get her plastered enough to make that something she'd be willing to put up with anytime soon.

She wondered where Mr. Arms from earlier went off to, or even if he was at the event at all. He had that super-secret-agent-security-type thing going on, so he was probably off guarding whatever precious cargo the museum had to hide; that is if he was
even there at all. Who knows, maybe he was just a dude passing by. Such a shame.

Darcy soon discovered that she could only pretend to mingle with people for so long. Everyone here was straight laced and boring. One sentence in and she couldn't actually understand what they were saying because all anyone ever brought up was science-y
mumbo jumbo. Where was the juicy gossip about with marine biologist got down with which chemist?

It was truly a lavish event, with tinkle-y lights and a small orchestra playing in the background. After escaping the drone of work-speak, Darcy found herself wandering up a set of marble stairs that gave off an "out of bounds" vibe, but hey, there wasn't
any signage or manly men to keep her away. There was a singular someone walking down as she made her way up, however. She did her best to not stare at the guy, mostly because if she ignored him he would be more likely not to stop her if she actually
wasn't allowed to go this way. She couldn't help her eyes being drawn to him though. He was rather well dressed in his suit. The long overcoat, green decorative scarf, and golden cane seemed to fit him to a T and hugged what looked to be a rather
impressive lean but muscular figure. What really drew her gaze though was the fact that despite his put together ensemble of clothes and definitive swagger, his pallor was almost sickly with hair just a little too oily and skin just a little too taut
and pale against his defined bone structure. He glanced up and met her eyes and she couldn't help the shiver that went down her spine. It wasn't a pleasant shiver either. Something about him seemed oddly familiar. He had eyes the same shade of blue
as Mr. Arms but they seemed even less natural on him, glinting with something a bit less than sane. He didn't say a word, but sent her a slight smirk before continuing his way down to the rest of the party.

Darcy paused, her head turning to allow her gaze to follow him even as he completely ignored her. Something felt wrong and even though she couldn't bring herself to move, the slight panic that settled over her made her want to grab Jane and just get the
hell out of there and back to their hotel room. She closed her eyes, taking a calming breathe and telling herself that everything was fine. She was overreacting because of the weird circumstances surrounding the entire vacation. She and Jane were
safe and at the opposite end of the world from where all the actual weird shit was happening.

She had just gotten her pulse to slow enough to be considered average when the screaming started.

I fucking knew it!

Her fight or flight system must be really out of wack, because after kicking herself into gear she ended up running toward the screaming instead of away from it. She couldn't get the image of Jane stuck in a room with the crazy cane-man out of her head
and that worry overrode any fear she might have had over her own safety.

She turned the corner just in time to see Mr. Psycho Eyes flip some old guy over onto a marble table and then plunge some creepy alien-looking thing into his face. At this point the screams got louder and everyone who hadn't already started running from
the room and out of the building. Darcy couldn't see Jane anywhere in the masses and hoped that she was safe. She remained frozen on the stairs and stabby-mcstab relaxed his grip on his handy dandy eyeball gouger and looked around. He turned far enough
that she could see the expression of manic glee on his face and as if he sensed her presence, his head twisted farther around and he met her eyes once again. Nausea bloomed across her abdomen as he let out a chuckle, but otherwise ignored her, choosing
instead to follow the flow of people out the front doors.

Her jaw dropped as his suit and cane began to glow golden then morphed into a dangerous looking scepter and very strap-y looking leather and armor getup. What really caught her attention was the giant ass horned helmet that now sat atop his head, which
she immediately recognized from her research on Norse Mythology back during her time as an intern in Puente Antiguo.

"Loki?"

Darcy was torn between getting as far away as possible and following him. She still didn't know where Jane was, and she had no clue why Thor's brother would be on this end of the planet. Tony said that he was sending them away from the psycho magic man,
not straight to him. She only started following slowly behind – trailing back far enough that she lost him as he stepped outside and she had to catch up without making too much noise – because she'd already survived the killer robot from New Mexico
and this guy seemed way less laser powered than his pet.

That was, at least until he blasted a police car so hard that is did a flip that would make any Olympic diver jealous.

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit." The fear was palpable. The crowd of people that had escaped the museum was scattering in all directions, only to backtrack as another Loki appeared in their path. He was herding them all into one center mass. One image
of him flickered into being no more than ten feet in front of where she was hiding behind a marble column and she had to cover her mouth with her hand to keep from squeaking and drawing its attention, even as said hand was shaking so bad it might
have drawn attention on its own. Each Loki grinned as they raised their spears, fully entrapping the crowd.

"I said, KNEEL!" The panicking crowd became deathly quiet as they all dropped down to their knees like it was the only think keeping them between life and death. If his hissy fit before was any indication, it likely was. The – she was only assuming –
real Loki smiled, a full faced grin that added to his creepy score. He took a step towards his cowering sheep, ignoring their flinches as he spread his arms like a welcoming shepherd. "Is this not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's
the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation." He spoke in a soft tone, like a parent explaining to a young child that they were only punishing them because they loved them. It was almost hypnotic if not for the fact that it was utter
bull shit. "The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."

There was silence and nobody moved for what felt like an eternity before Darcy witnessed as a singular person, an older grandfatherly looking man, raised himself from the ground and stood tall.

"Not to men like you."

Loki chuckled. "There are no men like me."

"There are always men like you."

He just sighed, holding out his scepter. "Look to your elder, people." Darcy's heard dropped as the end began glowing a vibrant blue. "Let him be an example." A beam shot out the curved tip, heading straight toward the old man.

Alexei: I made up the name "Stuttgart Science Gala". I looked online and could only find reference to the "Stuttgart Gala" but not what the gala itself was for. I used a bit of creative integrity to give Tony a reason to send my two favorite women there.
I also decided that the "museum" in which it took place needed from front stairs, so that's a little different than what's on the movie (where the entrance is flat).