I'm nearing the end and I'm so sad about it… But here goes nothing… and please, please, don't be afraid to review or criticize me! I love it!

In her dreams, she was always singing. Darcy was by no means a terrible singer, but she wasn't good enough that she would ever randomly break out in song and feel comfortable exposing herself. This was different though- the singing was softer, the words almost nonsensical, and the tune was so melodic Darcy could feel herself grow calmer by the minute.

"Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, eating all the gumdrops he can see-

Stop! Kookabura, stop! Kookaburra, gay your life must be…"

Sometimes, Darcy was singing to someone- the person was hazy in her vision, but she'd cradled them in her arms as lovingly and closely as she could without smothering them.

"Hush little baby, don't say a word… Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird…"

Sometimes she would just hum, tunelessly and ceaselessly, stroking the hair of her beloved, although she couldn't quite figure out who that was, exactly.

All she could sense was an overwhelming affection and adoration within her for that someone…

It made her dreams glow with contentment.

Sometimes, there would be loud noises- and sometimes, there would be nothing but the stark silence of her mind which was normally so abuzz with thoughts.

Eventually, Darcy knew she was merely waiting for someone to wake her up.

She had been cuddling her unknown friend when suddenly a crack appeared in the endless white of her fantasy, and then she was all alone, and standing in a pile of rubble.

She was in New York again, but this time, she was armed. Darcy's haziness fled and was replaced with an intense clarity that was almost disturbing- she had no fear, no apprehension.

She was ready to face the unknown enemy of Loki's, and now, her mind.

It took her no time to realize that she was no longer alone with her thoughts.

"I've tired of playing games, wench."

The deep gravel of Thanos' voice didn't shock her like it had previously-

Instead, she shrugged.

"Do your worst."

Thanos smirked, stalking towards her like a tiger before a chicken- it was dinner time.

Darcy barely noticed the cracks forming beneath Thanos' feet with each step he took- he was so powerful. Something told her not to worry though, because she began to talk.

"So are you like asleep right now, or are you fighting the Avengers AND me simultaneously? Because if so, mad props dude. You've impressed me for sure!"

"You mock me, girl? You face death and you laugh? Perhaps on your backwards planet that is perceived as courage, but I who was born of death know it to truly be foolishness."

Darcy snorted, and replied, "I see you've practiced your scary monster self-affirmation shit today- you seem extra Machiavellian or something. Still I can't help but notice- you adore and worship this death, but she kind of sounds like a bitch to me."

His craggy brow furrowed deeply in response- "You should not mock my Mistress, wench. I can end you right here."

"That's it though- death isn't bad for the dying- and let me say, I've almost died like three times in my life- and it's okay. It's shit for a while but mainly it's living that sucks, so really, there's a balance… y'know?"

The glaring whiteness of the room suddenly dimmed to a dull gray, and Thanos reintroduced his scary ceremonial knife.

Darcy couldn't resist one last quip in the face of her demise- "That's such an ethnic knife, I got one just like it at Urban Outfitters- it cost an arm and a leg, though!"

Her choice of words was perhaps poor, as the Mad Titan emitted a clanging, metallic laugh that ricocheted around Darcy's mind.

"Any last words child? I am done listening- you will be gone, and the worm you love so much will be gone, and nothing can stop Ragnarok from coming-

I shall meet Death as an equal then…"

Darcy finally felt her strange courage ebb away, and a quiet sorrow replaced it. She felt a flutter inside her and the sadness expanded, leaving her wan and hopeless.

After a moment's deliberation, Darcy merely shook her head and shut her eyes.

"Do what you will, dickhead."

"As you wish. You of all Midgardians- you were a true challenge. I commend you- Darcy Lewis."

With that, Thanos roughly lifted her into the air, and she dangled upright.

He tore away her ragged t-shirt with frightening ease, exposing the pale skin Darcy had always hated. Her boobs looked like small planetoids in her personal opinion, and Darcy couldn't believe that THAT was going to be her final thought.

Thinking of boobs then made her think of their number one fan…

Loki.

How could she go on without Loki? What would he do without her?

The doubt was worse than knowing she was about to die- and despair for her lover, and their child finally forced her to succumb to tears, hot and angry down her cheek.

She was shivering in her anticipation- waiting for that knife to cut into her was agonizing, more than the exquisite pain of having her skin separated by the nasty blade.

Thanos laid a huge hand upon her stomach, examining the area for the small flutters of life that signified her mysterious, powerful little baby.

Then she felt the air move around her torso, and Thanos was delicately running the blade down the length of her navel, just barely cutting her. A ribbon of blood flowed from the wound as delicately as the blade had, and Darcy squeezed her eyes shut from the torturous waiting.

Then she heard Thanos heavily gasp-

Her eyes flew open and she saw his line of sight was trained on her stomach. Darcy couldn't understand it- her stomach was its usual pale, somewhat flat self-

Without any cuts or blood on it.

Thanos shrugged it off- "I am willing to speed up the process, to- shall I say, heighten my use of the knife. The worm's magic cannot protect you from the likes of me, girl!"

With supreme confidence, he plunged the knife into the soft flesh of Darcy's stomach- knocking the wind out of her so badly that she saw stars-

And then she really did see stars, because all of a sudden she was in an open field, and she was obviously awake now, because there was Hawkeye firing an exploding arrow at some minions, and there was Tony trying to sneak behind Thanos and shoot him-

But Thanos was too angry to pay heed to Ironman.

"WHAT TRICKERY IS THIS?! WHERE- HOW- THE TESSERACT CANNOT GRANT IMMORTALITY-

CERTAINLY NOT TO AN UNBORN BASTARD WHELP!"

The battle field immediately fell to a hushed quiet- the fighting was muffled, as Tony used some fancy bomb to take out all the minions, and one by one the Avengers flanked Darcy's prone body.

A silky voice cut through the silence-

"I would take care not to refer to my child as a "bastard whelp". I'm sensitive about my origins as a bastard, I'll have you know!"

The airy, mocking tone- it was impossible for that voice to belong to anyone except for her Loki-

And Darcy couldn't help it.

She shook away the cobwebs and stood shakily on her legs, making eye contact with Loki as he slowly walked to stand in front of his fellow warriors- he was going to protect them- and Darcy was possessed by a mad instinct that told her-

"RUN!" and so she did, right in front of Loki, shielding him as best as she could in her wounded form. The pain from her previous torture was beginning to throb and her arm still dangled from the shoulder socket-

"What a foolish girl! So sad she has to die- isn't it, Worm?"

Thanos gloated more as he immobilized all of the Avengers and Loki, leaving the latter unfrozen from the neck up.

"I want to watch you watch the light leave this one's eyes- do you hear me?"

Loki was silent and focused-

And Darcy felt a probing in her mind that was so familiar it had to be him. She wasn't surprised when Thanos lifted her up again with his powers, but this time, he spread her limbs so she was almost like a star- a Vitruvian woman of sorts.

Darcy was ready to end it- she had seen Loki, and she knew he wouldn't go mad without her. Fucking angry, yes. Crazy, no.

It was going to be…

Okay.

This time his knife was smaller but the blade was longer and skinnier and sharper, and he didn't stop to banter as foreplay.

He merely pushed the knife through the tender flesh of her swollen belly, pushing in further and further- this knife was clearly enchanted.

Darcy could feel a pain so white hot, she barely kept herself from screaming- and in her mind a roaring began, and she knew it was Loki trying to finish whatever he had been doing-

The knife had penetrated her baby's little magic bubble, and she was going to lose her family before she really got to even have one.

Thanos had pulled out the knife at this point, and was preparing to re-enter Darcy's body with its point-

When suddenly she felt her spine crackle. She felt her arm pop into its socket, her blood returning to her body- all impossible, impossible-

But Loki was grinning a shit eating grin that gave her wild, stupid hope.

Thanos was furious again, and this time he tried to bludgeon her head with his fist-

But she broke his hand instead.

Thanos' hand, the size of a pothole- bounced off her head with such force that she could literally hear the bones shattering in his skin. The titan screamed in pain, and suddenly the petrified Avengers awoke and began to attack with a fervor she'd never seen in them before.

Thanos recovered enough to attempt to snap her neck, but he barely touched her throat before his skin began to fall off where he made contact- layer after layer until she could see exposed muscle.

A heat coursed through her then and it centered in her womb (she had no clue how she knew that was where that was) and the baby was… happy? Jubilant even, at the pain of another, clearly her father's daughter.

And it was so clearly a girl- she could sense it, because she could feel the unborn thoughts of her fetus.

Her fetus, which was, by all purposes and definitions, performing prenatal defensive magic on Thanos.

How fucking badass was her baby?

Loki paused his fighting and shouted "SO FUCKING BADASS!" His cheeky joy matched hers, but Darcy lost her reply- as Thanos slid the knife neatly through her lover's ribs- and he was brought to his knees. She felt the heat replaced by cold, and she knew, her baby was about to fuck shit up-

Somehow she knew that Thanos had hurt her daddy-

And suddenly Darcy felt a fury coursing through her, but it wasn't hers, and its presence felt alien.

She could feel her hands shaking and suddenly she felt an even stronger presence in her mind- this one much, much younger than Loki, but exponentially wilder, and more powerful. It was merely probing though- as if asking permission to enter.

Thinking as hard as she could, Darcy replied- "Do whatever it takes, baby girl."

And Thanos could feel her daughter's rage, as an intense invisible pressure began to squeeze against his very mind- not just his skull but the thoughts and memories housed within it-

They were being compressed and jumbled and things began to lose their meaning-

Thanos couldn't believe that he was being thwarted by a telekinetic being more powerful than he- he attempted to free himself-

And then… splat! Like a grape- it was so simple it was almost stupid. The ground near Darcy and Thanos' corpse rained with the murky black blood of the latter, staining Darcy's skin. She ignored the brackish liquid and ran to Loki, who was curled up on the ground.

"Oh my god- oh god babe, it's okay, it's alright- I'm fine, the baby's fine- I'm sure SHIELD is coming right now and we'll get you fixed up-"

Tears blurred Darcy's eyes and she began to weep- Thanos might be gone but she still had to lose her one true source of happiness- Loki- her love-

She laid Loki's head in her lap and cradled him, humming the familiar tune from her dreams, crying, crying, crying, until she heard a bizarre noise.

"Eheheheheh!"

"What the fuck?!"

The sound grew louder, and she felt a strange vibrating against her legs and navel-

And she realized that it was Loki emitting that asinine noise.

"Are you fucking kidding me Loki? Are you OKAY?!"

The laughing exploded into full on mad-scientist mode, and Darcy burst into tears.

Loki immediately sat up and took her into his arms instead, his expression sober.

"I'm so sorry darling, I was just… being mischievous? I apologize for hurting you unduly though- I should explain."
Darcy sniffled pitifully, and replied, "I think we need to have a very long talk, Loki… about this baby… and Lucy too."

Loki fell silent at that- and a weariness she hadn't felt before overcame her as well, as she remembered the horror of the previous day.

They didn't speak for a while then.

The field emptied, as SHIELD arrived and cleaned up the bodies and the Thanos gore, and eventually their wounds. After checking out as well enough to travel, Darcy and Loki climbed into a small jet with an uncharacteristically quiet Tony.

Tony immediately fell asleep after reaching Pepper, so Darcy felt comfortable leaning against Loki and sobbing quietly for a while.

Loki had no words for her then, but he kept his lips pressed to her forehead.

They stayed silent for a long time then, even when they stopped over to refuel somewhere in Bahrain.

That was when Loki finally spoke up.

"I can see everything Thanos made me do, but it's like someone inserted reel of film, as you would describe it- I know it was me in a sense… but I can't accept that I did it… I cannot bear to face Thor after this- he trusts in me endlessly and foolishly and I always said he'd be hurt by his love for me- and I was right. I always am- and isn't that fucking ironic?"

Darcy didn't respond, but she did silence his self-reproach with a very long, very passionate kiss.

When they broke apart for air, she merely stated one thing.

"I know that we both hurt Thor and Jane- I played a role in this too, Loki. But that doesn't mean you killed Lucy, and neither did I. Right now, we need to comfort our two best friends as best as we can- whether it's by standing by them or hiding far away from them- and then… we can figure out our own baby situation."

Loki couldn't repress a grin at the thought of his own child.

"I saw her for an instant, you know. When I was in your mind-"

"Oh yeah! Hold on, you have to tell me what you did to make our bambina so strong!"

Darcy had forgotten her sorrow and instead was highly confused.

"Well, I have no concrete answers Darcy- all I can imagine is that when I first gave you the potion which granted you reprieve from your paralysis- it must have imbued you with some kind of magical protection. One of the prerequisites of that kind of magic is that the intention of the maker must be pure- Frigga, my mother taught me that. There is some magic which cannot be learned or manipulated by the likes of me or even Thanos- it is natural as air and cannot be controlled."

"You're saying you accidentally gave me an in-utero firewall for our baby?!"

Loki didn't understand the tech-talk but he nodded, hoping he was correct.

"In that case… Loki, how did you make it so I wasn't hurt anymore? I was about to pass out from the pain and then suddenly it disappeared!"

Loki laughed at that. "That wasn't my doing darling- it seems our little girl- it's a girl by the way, sorry if you wanted a surprise- she sensed I was near, and she basically plunged into my magical abilities and combined them with her own."

Darcy felt surprised and unsurprised at the same time. "I guess our kid is incredibly gifted and powerful, then?"
"I would agree with that. She had an instinctual grasp of magic that puts me to shame, but what's even more amazing was that she could use that magic from outside her domain of your body. I can comprehend her being able to cast protection around you, her mother and current home, but to murder the would be conqueror of this planet? Our child is truly brilliant, Darcy."

The pride in Loki's voice was contagious and poignant at once- her once daddy-issue obsessed boyfriend was clearly in love with their little girl as much as she already was, if not more.

The conversation died away at that point, and Darcy soon felt the soft rumble of Loki snoring. She leaned against his chest and laid a hand on her abdomen, savoring the moment.

For the first time since her fall from grace- the first time since she woke up in that hospital bed, crippled and angry about it-

Darcy felt whole. She had a million scars to show that it hadn't always been that way, but she was no longer broken or shattered-

She had picked up the pieces of her life before and she could do it again.

This time, she had two other lives to carry with her, and she was in love.

All was well.

Now all she had to do was tell Jane that she was pregnant.

THIS ISN'T OVER. I STILL HAVE TO DO JANE/THOR AFTER MATH STUFF PLUS BABY MAKES THREE BUSINESS.

I LOVE YOU GUYS, and please review. I feel like two or three chapters will wrap this monster up! OVER A YEAR OF WRITING, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? LOVE YOU! xoxo