"Don't you dare touch me," Jane warned.

Darcy was covered in chocolate syrup and was going around wiping it on the frozen bodies around Jane's house. She even gave Fury a whipped cream mustache and sprayed some of the cream in his ear. She then tenderly placed a cherry on his head and backed away.

She was shimmying her way through the immobile crowd towards Jane who refused to help Darcy waste all her food on pranking SHIELD agents. Some of them had ice cubes in their suit pockets, bananas replaced guns, and candy canes were hanging from sagging lips. The ornaments that were previously on the Christmas tree now decorated the agents' hair and clothes in a deranged festive display.

After Loki had agreed to go back to Asgard, there was a bittersweet celebratory feeling in the air. Thor was blissful at his brother's acceptance and Jane was happy at the safe alternative and Darcy was just on a self-induced Christmas high that refused to wear off. Even Loki seemed momentarily at peace at the idea that Jane would be safe.

But it all came at a cost. Thor was well-aware of his brother's intentions and he wished that Loki had chosen to come on his own accord, not due to some ultimatum. Jane felt Loki's despair so her own happiness was tainted. Loki was hiding his pain but Jane couldn't ignore it. The three of them: Jane, Thor, and Loki were not looking forward to the trip back to Asgard.

But, alas, Darcy decided to go out for a distraction, dragging Jane with her, to "have a good time" and make use of the stuff they were about to leave behind on earth. She used Thor's hammer to destroy SHIELD's cars. The motionless helicopter had already crashed to the ground so Darcy covered it with Christmas lights.

Thor joined Darcy at first but resigned back to the house to check up at Loki. Jane didn't want to intrude so she remained out, trying her best not to cry like a little baby.

This was not the Christmas she had wanted.

Jane sighed into her scarf as Darcy held up her chocolaty hands in surrender.

"No worries, I come in peace," she laughed.

Jane tried to smile. She really did. But for once her optimism wasn't enough.

Darcy noticed and she slipped next to Jane, tilting her body towards her.

"What's wrong Janie?"

Normally Jane didn't like to complain. Complaining never got her anywhere and it made her feel vulnerable and ungrateful. But she needed to talk to someone. She couldn't keep it in.

"Darcy, I'm scared."

"Why? Are you afraid about going into space or something?"

"Yes, but not in the way you think. I'm scared for Loki, Darcy. He shouldn't have to go, he clearly doesn't want to."

Darcy scooted closer to Jane. "You remember a couple years ago, when I showed up at your lab in New York, begging for you to let me stay cause I had ran away from home for like the billionth time? And then you dragged me back to talk to my brother and ask him for help?"

Jane squinted at her. "What does that have anything to do with this? I can't believe you're still mad at me about that."

"Of course I'm mad at you! You made me look like such a girl, honestly I guess that was the day that I realized that no matter how good you are at mental arithmetic, you seriously have a problem of expecting the best in people. It's like an illness and that day I figure that your optimism was going to kill you with your bad ideas if I didn't appoint myself to be your best friend."

"Darcy…"

"No but wait, that's not my point. Anyways, do you remember the speech you gave me before you practically blackmailed me?"

"I didn't blackmail you, I just promised I would give you ice-cream if you made an effort."

"That is blackmailing."

"No it's not, it's called a reward."

"Oh? So now I'm a child?"

"Was that ever a question?"

"And by the way, you never gave me any ice-cream."

"Case closed."

Jane moved to get up, now feeling more lighthearted but Darcy pulled her back down.

"Jane! Let me talk for once! God, listen, just listen."

Jane exhaled loudly and rested her head on her hand, sinking her face further into the scarf.

"So, what I was trying to say was, do you remember the speech you gave me, the one about how everyone has a life of their own, even family and we don't choose what they are like but it's our job to accept them regardless."

Jane just stared and Darcy took that as a yes.

"Well, you told me that every relationship is worth fighting for. And then you said that I had to go back and give my family another chance and be forgiving so I could be neutral and understand both sides. That the other person hurts a great deal, but we never know unless they show it to us. And once we can understand and accept the truth, we can accept our reality."

Jane nodded, "It's human nature to overestimate another person's joy and underestimate their misery."

"Exactly. Now, I know you're all team-Loki, but don't you think that he needs to go back and look at both sides too? I mean, Thor seriously loves him a lot. And Loki knows that. Don't you think he needs to give his family another shot too?"

Jane had contemplated this. "It could end badly, like it did with you," she whispered.

"But at least I can properly say with evidence that my family doesn't care for me. I know they don't love me. It feels better to say that they gave up on me instead of me giving up on them. But Loki's confused Jane; he needs to know the whole truth. And all though I was pissed at you for making me go to Ricky and beg him and humiliate myself," Darcy took a deep breath, "I'm still kind of sort of glad you made me because I was able to get past the guilt of leaving them. It helped me get over the self-pity I was feeling because it enabled me to leave them all behind and live a new life without any resentments. And Loki deserves that too."

"Darcy…you're right. Wow. When did you get so wise?" Jane laughed, finally cheerful again, now that she could see some positive outlook in this situation.

"Hey I've always been the wise and mature one. Now let's put some ice in Fury's pants, give him frost bite down there ," Darcy whispered the last part.

"Yes, real mature."

Darcy crashed into Jane with a hug, covering her in chocolate syrup.

"Hey! I told you not to touch me."

"Well, that was revenge for blackmailing me a couple years ago."

Jane shook her head. "Why do I even bother with you?"

Darcy put on a fake thoughtful look and tapped her chin. "Hmmm, I don't know, good question…"

"C'mon, I have some chips inside," Jane linked her arm with Darcy's.

"Oh so we can put the crumbs all over Fury's face?"

Darcy rubbed her hands together in excitement.

"Well, I was thinking we could eat a few first," Jane rolled her eyes.

"And then we can put the crumbs all over Fury's face?"

Jane smiled at her friend's hopeful expression and felt immensely grateful for her luck that Darcy was still her best friend.

"Sure, why the hell not?" Jane told her, walking into her warm home.

!

Jane wistfully packed her telescope into her suitcase. Loki was helping her pack her belongings into brown boxes. The living room was all packed up and Jane covered the furniture with white sheets. The future was unclear but she wanted to be prepared for anything. Jane watched Loki shrink all the packed boxes into tiny ones that all fit in his palm.

She had to sadly hand over some of her equipment for Thor to destroy, but she kept the ones that were her own. The bedroom was already done and as they were reaching the end, both Loki and Jane slowed down their pace.

They were in a comfortable silence. Loki had finally broken his detached front and was once more close to Jane, refusing to be apart from her, packing alongside her. Their hands would brush and arms would touch, but they didn't say anything, only continued to pack in silence. Occasionally Loki would sit back and watch Jane, brush her hair out of her face or wrap himself to her from behind to pepper kisses on her neck and cheek.

It was a peaceful moment but even at two hours in length, it felt too short.

Because soon Thor and Darcy, both with wild, playful stares keep back in, laughing and snorting in glee. The departure's weight was only felt by Loki and Jane who tightly held hands and stood side by side, fearful of what was to come.

And when they all huddled into a circle, packed on the same ground Loki had fallen to earth on, with Thor raising his hammer up to the sky, the portal opening with the beams of color blinding the group, Loki's hand remained tightly secured around Jane's as if his life depended on her.

And in Loki's mind, it did.

A/N: Voila! Honestly when I first started writing the story, I had no intention of sending them back to Asgard. I wanted to leave Odin, Frigga, and even Thor as the bad guys. But this feels right, so I decided to continue and answer questions regarding the future of Jane and Loki and how it would work out. Thank you Hollarious969, UnimaginableThings, Princess PrettyPants, odinsdatter9, Hollarious969, and JigokuShoujosRevenge for your support and time, thank you thank you thank you! Also shout out to the guest that went out of his/her way to leave the benevolent review; that was very kind of you. Please everyone, if you have a question/comment/concern, don't hesitate to review…

Thank you for reading and stay tuned everyone:)