Ay up! So I've changed my name on here and A03... after being BrandNewHappiness for over 8 years it was kinda hard to let go, but we all need a little change once in a while, eh? :)
Shout out to everyone who's favourited or reviewed this monster of a fic, I love you all!
Darcy couldn't help but feel a little creepy stood over Jane's sleeping figure. But it wasn't as if she'd come here just to watch her sleep. She had tiptoed to the high tower, where she knew Jane loved to go to stare at the stars. Jane was thankfully predictable like that, Darcy thought wryly. She hardly broke her habits. Darcy used to make fun of her routine, but now it was a godsend.
Without Thor or one of her Asgardian maids following her around, Darcy thought this was the best time to get what she liked to call 'the Loki reintegration plan' rolling.
She wasn't that subtle about stalking her best friend / ex-boss nowadays, and Loki probably knew Darcy was keeping tabs on her. After all, they both agreed that staying in that room would drive them crazy.
The Reintegration Plan would only work if Jane was awake, and Darcy half wondered how tired she must have been to sleep with her head resting on a cold, stone windowsill.
"Jane." Darcy whispered. "Jane, wake up."
"10 more minutes," Jane grumbled. Darcy laughed softly and shook her.
"It's me. It's – "
"Darcy?!" Jane flailed, her hands grasping Darcy's face in the darkness.
"Ow! C'mon. That's my face you're squeezing. Shh."
"Oh my god it is you." Jane sat up, her eyes wide as she exchanged her grasp on Darcy's face for her hands. "You're okay. Thank god. I thought…"
"…You thought what?"
"There was news… a sighting of…" Jane stopped quickly. If Darcy was here, she wasn't with Loki. But if Darcy knew that Loki was still alive and wandering around Earth, she wouldn't rest until she found him. As Jane composed herself, Darcy repressed a sigh, knowing exactly what she was hiding.
"A sighting of what? Bigfoot? Jeez, your poker face really needs work, Jane." Darcy's smile faded. "I know he's alive. He turned up at my folk's place. Loki- Not bigfoot," she corrected herself.
Jane's grip on Darcy's fingers seemed to tighten despite Darcy's apparent ease.
"So SHIELD was called-"
"-to my parent's place. Yeah. We had Christmas dinner. And played Charades. And it's kinda a long story but it ends with my brother calling the police. Totally normal."
"Loki didn't hurt-"
"-He didn't hurt anyone, Jane. Josh just recognised him and came to the same conclusion anyone would make."
"You look… well."
"I am." Darcy grinned. "Although the last time you saw me, I was just recovering from stabbing a guy in the heart and seeing a dude burn alive. So…"
"Yeah. I wanted to make sure you were okay but with Thor and Asgard the way it is… I couldn't even move from the palace. Darce…" Jane looked up at her with worry. "Why didn't you just go work for Stark, like we'd planned? Leave all this behind? Why are you back here?"
Darcy was getting sick of people telling her to leave things behind. Instead of getting irate, she bit her tongue and perched on the windowsill beside Jane.
"I was going to. But someone convinced me otherwise."
"Loki?"
Darcy nodded. "I did the opposite of what you told me to do."
Jane tried to hide her smile. "It's just… bad timing. The Kingdom is falling apart. I've been doing my best to keep it together, but if you're here with Loki… you need to leave. Until the Queen wakes. I don't think Odin has much patience left."
"Things have really gone to shit, huh?" Darcy sighed heavily.
"It's probably the reason you've managed to smuggle yourselves into Asgard, and are walking round undetected. Heimdall is busy. There's no order."
"Loki told me that we'll be hidden from Heimdall, as long as we don't do anything… stupid."
"Like now?"
"No, like going up to him and waving in front of his face." She rolled her eyes. "Listen, I came here to ask you… Can you and Thor guarantee any sort of fair trial… anything to get Loki back in his dad's good books?"
Jane shook her head and laughed shortly. "I wish. Like I said, the entire place is falling apart because the voice of reason isn't here anymore. Odin's got the kingdom in an uproar. He's burning bridges whilst Thor tries to rebuild them. I don't know what's happened. I think… I think it's the because of Queen Frigga."
"She hasn't woken up, has she?"
"She's been unresponsive since you left. The healers aren't… optimistic."
Darcy took Jane's hand with a deep breath. She imagined Loki if his mother passed, and how distraught he would be. It would destroy the family. And as much as she claimed to want out of the madness of Asgard (especially the family drama), part of Darcy would be willing to do anything to save the Queen.
"And Thor?"
"I haven't seen in him for a couple of days now. He disappears with no explanation. It's killing me to be patient. I know he's got the whole kingdom on his shoulders now that Odin is failing, and I'm trying to save us." Tears welled up in Jane's eyes. She shook her head and blinked them away, but Darcy squeezed her hand in comfort.
"You love each other, Jane." Darcy smiled sadly. "You'll get through this."
"I know. I just need him to know I'm here for him. Apparently stubbornness runs in the family."
Darcy laughed and nodded. "At least Thor hasn't faked his death yet."
"Yeah I can imagine he'd be in big trouble for-"
She stopped dead, both women's eyes widening as a shriek could be heard in the distance. A woman's bloodcurdling shriek. A familiar voice. The Queen's.
Both women got to their feet instantly, and Darcy followed Jane out of the room, forgetting about hiding, and ran out into the night.
The Queen's healing room was a huge, golden cavern that seemed to glow with warmth. Darcy could imagine it being quite calm in here, quite relaxing. However, it was anything but that now. The shrieking continued, and the yelling of the guards over the noise was deafening.
Jane pushed past the guards with no problem, and Darcy seemed to slip through in the confusion. She half wondered what would happen if they recognised her. Technically she hadn't done anything wrong, just murdered the King's grandson (in self-defence, of course) and watched the King's son burn. So nothing, really.
The guards stood in a huddle by the doorway in an instant, and a crowd of guards and healers seemed to gather around a figure by Frigga's bedside. Darcy stood a couple of steps back in shock, whilst Jane rushed to the bedside of the Queen.
Darcy's eyes widened at the sight before her. The Queen was laid on her side, animated and alive, but her shrieking cries echoed painfully around the room. No wonder they could hear it in Jane's room.
She had hold of something to the right of her bedside, but Darcy couldn't see who lay in a crumpled heap beside the bed. She knew something was terribly wrong despite the Queen's awakening. Jane had rushed to her aid, and the Queen moved so Jane could hold her, rubbing her back in a comforting motion. The Queen still had a grasp on the figure's arm.
The Queen's cries still continued, and Jane barked orders at one of the guards.
"Someone fetch Thor!"
Darcy saw a break in the guards and peered through to look at the body on the floor.
"No." She gasped. As soon as she registered who the body belonged to, the whole scene went in slow motion, her heart beating in her ears, her breath short and shallow.
It was the King.
Only a short one this time! My bad. Til next time!