Darcy lies on Loki's bed, staring up at the ceiling in boredom. He no longer complains about her being there. He no longer gives her papers with English translations from his magic books. He no longer even glares at her for her sarcastic comments. He no longer does anything really. After that guard left, the god of mischief had some sort of mental breakdown and then just sat down on the floor, looking depressed. Which he totally had a right to be, considering some random guy had shown up, told Loki his mom was dead, then left. But still... he had gone from terrifyingly upset to eerily still in a matter of minutes. And he had neither moved nor spoken since then.

So, here Darcy lay, bored out of her mind. She had tried to talk to her cellmate - calm him down, cheer him up, just get him to say or do anything... but nothing. She might as well be talking to herself. She had tried that for a while too, but it got old quick. She had made a few more towers out of Loki's book collection, but it just wasn't as much fun if he didn't get mad at her for it. She had tried to think back to her weird English literature class in college where the teacher had made them learn some old runes. The ones in Loki's books were similar, if not the same. She managed to figure out some of the runes in his books that way, but once she had a few words in normal letters scribbled down on a piece of paper she realized the words weren't actually in English anyway. So it didn't even matter! She had wadded up her paper and thrown it and the book into the floor. Finally, in a last-ditch effort to find something to do, she had picked up the two papers Loki had given her with the descriptions of the hands-glued-to-the-table spell and the shitty invisibility spell. She studied them for a while and played around with using them a bit. They got a bit easier with practice. By now (which she guessed to be about a day, maybe two, later), she could superglue her hands to things at will, and the more important part, unglue them as well. She could even manage the invisibility charm pretty well now, although it had taken her a couple of hours to figure out how to become visible again.

And now... nothing. There's nothing else to do, no one to talk to. Loki, who had been so condescending and obnoxious about how "pathetic mortals" can't do magic, would not so much as look at her - or rather the absence of her - when she had finally gotten the hang of the invisibility spell. Turns out the prince of Asgard and god of mischief is actually a very boring cellmate.

Darcy lies on her back, counting the cracks in the ceiling, which would have kept her mildly entertained for much longer if there were actually any cracks in the ceiling. She's on the verge of falling asleep when she finally hears a sound not caused by her. She immediately sits straight up and looks at Loki, assuming the sound to have come from him, but he still hasn't moved from his place on the floor. Darcy tilts her head to the side and listens. Footsteps! The sound grows louder and louder, as the visitor descends into the deathly silent dungeon. "Someone's coming!" Darcy's face lights up with excitement as she waits for the source of the footsteps to appear at the bottom of the stairs.

At her exclamation, Loki slowly turns to look at her. An expression of confusion crosses his face, prompting Darcy to look down at herself and realize she had forgotten to make herself visible again. The mortal girl opens her mouth to explain since he apparently really had just completely tuned her out for a while now, but it would seem she had already lost his attention. His eyes are now on the foot of the staircase as he too listens to their visitor approaching.

Loki shuts his eyes for a few seconds, and the room seems to ripple around him. Darcy watches in awe as broken furniture looks mended, books look neatly stacked, and the smears of blood on the floor vanish. Even Loki himself changes before her eyes. Suddenly, he looks like he did when she first got here, all nice and clean, not all disheveled and kinda insane-looking like he's been for the past day or so. The great illusion to keep anyone from seeing just how far he has fallen in so short a time.

The footsteps near the end of the stairs, and the visitor's shadow stretches across the floor. Then out of the shadows, steps Thor. The look on his face stops the greeting in Darcy's throat. He approaches the cell with the bearing of someone carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

As Thor approaches the cell's magical light barrier, the cleaned-up Loki walks forward to meet him. "Thor. After all this time, and now you come to visit me. Why? Have you come to gloat? To mock?"

"Loki enough. No more illusions."

With a quiet sigh, Loki lowers his head and shuts his eyes. A slight shimmer fills the room, banishing Loki's illusions. Now Thor can see the Loki that Darcy has seen - the broken Loki sitting in a broken room. "Now you see me, brother." A heavy silence hangs between them. "Did she suffer?"

"I did not come here to share our grief. Instead, I offer you the chance of a far richer sacrament."

"Go on."

"I know you seek vengeance as much as I do. You help me escape Asgard, and I will grant it to you - vengeance. And afterward, this cell."

A mirthless laugh comes from the god of mischief. "You must be truly desperate to come to me for help. What makes you think you can trust me?"

"I don't. Mother did. But you should know that when we fought in the past, I did so with the glimmer of hope that my brother was still in there somewhere. That hope no longer exists to protect you. You betray me, and I will kill you."

A smile creeps across Loki's face. "When do we start?"

"Now." Thor lifts Mjolnir and, with a great shout, strikes the magical barrier. The barrier shakes violently, with pulses of light shooting through it as it tries to keep itself together. Then the ripples freeze, and the barrier begins disintegrating out from Mjolnir. When the wall of light has completely vanished, Thor lowers his hammer and turns to leave, safely assuming Loki will follow.

"Don't forget me!" The excited squeak of a voice stops the thunder god in his tracks. He hesitantly turns back to face the cell. A grinning Darcy Lewis materializes, running at him from across the cell.

Thor's eyes narrow at the girl in obvious disbelief. He turns his glare on the god of mischief, slowly rising to his feet. "What is this trickery? I believe I said "no more illusions.""

Loki sighs and leans his head back against the wall. "Believe you me, I wish she were an illusion."

Darcy slams into Thor, wrapping her arms around him. The thunderer looks down at the mortal woman in confusion. When he looks to his brother again, the god of mischief is dressed in his normal attire and is running a hand through his suddenly less messy hair.

"Shall we go then?" Loki smiles as he brushes past Thor and Darcy at the edge of the cell.

"Loki." Thor's voice is a growl, his patience already being tested.

"I told you, she's not mine. If you don't believe me, " A mischievous smirk appears on his face. "Give her a whack with your hammer."

Darcy's eyes widen in concern. She quickly releases her hold on Thor and takes a few hurried steps backward. "Woah there, big guy. No need to bring MewMew into this." She holds her hands up in surrender and continues to take small steps back.

At the mention of MewMew, Thor begins laughing, and Loki's jaw drops in disbelief. "Darcy! It is you! But... what are you doing here?" He looks about at the bodies of dead formerly escaping prisoners and Loki's destroyed cell.

"I sorta kinda tripped and fell into your big flash of light thingy when you showed up to whisk Jane away all hero-like. But then you guys took off and just left me there with the big guy in shiny gold armor. Not cool! And all he could tell me was not to fall off the damn bridge!" Thor is just staring at her in a state of shock, guilt beginning to creep in. "After that, I got really lost... obviously. There were a lot more people here - and you know, alive - when I got here. But some big guy shoved another big guy through the magic light wall, and everyone started trying to kill each other. Never thought I'd feel safer in a prison cell..." Darcy shivers at the memories. "And well, I've been hanging out with your little bro ever since."

Now it's Thor's turn to gape at the girl before him. She had told him so much and so little all at once. It was like a really rushed summary of a rather long story...

"So... any chance I can just go home now? Your world's cool and all, but I'm suddenly missing mine and Jane's tiny apartment in London."
Thor sighs. "Come with us for now, and I swear I will return you home as soon as I can." Darcy nods and shuffles up to stand beside him again. "Now, we must be quick to meet with the others."

The god of thunder strides off and makes his way up the stairs out of the dungeon. Stepping out into a large hallway in the palace, Loki steps up by his brother, a smile spreading across his face at his first taste of freedom in some time. Darcy follows close behind the two, looking about anxiously for guards along the way.

"This is so unlike you, brother. So clandestine. Are you sure you wouldn't rather just punch your way out?"

"If you keep speaking, I just might."

Darcy snorts with laughter, earning her an irritated glare from Loki.

"Fine. As you wish. I'm not even here." There's a slight glimmer, and Loki's appearance shifts to that of an Einherjar guard."Is this better?"

"It's better company at least."

"Still, we could be less conspicuous." Another glimmer of magic, and Loki is returned to his normal form, and in Thor's place is the image of Lady Sif. "Mmm, brother. You look ravishing."

Thor looks down at himself and in his normal voice says, "It will hurt no less when I kill you in this form."

"Very well. Perhaps you prefer one of your new companions, given that you seem to like them so much." With another glimmer, Thor is restored to his normal self, and Loki takes on the appearance of Captain America. "Oh, this is much better. Woah! Costume's a bit much, it's so tight! But the confidence! I can feel the righteousness surging! Hey, wanna have a rousing discussion about truth, honor, patriotism? God bless America-"

Thor grabs hold of Loki, and the illusion slips away. Tightly covering Loki's mouth, Thor shoves his brother back against a pillar. Darcy dives to the floor, sliding to hide behind a pillar on the other side of the hall.

As soon as Thor uncovers his mouth, Loki harshly asks, "What?" Thor nods towards where two guards are walking past at the end of the hall. "You can at least furnish me with a weapon. My dagger, something!"

Thor frowns at his brother for a moment but then reaches for something at his belt. Darcy lifts an eyebrow curiously as there is the sound of sliding metal and Loki smiles. "At last, a little common sense."

There's a soft click and whir, and Loki's smile slips into a scowl as he lifts his hands, revealing the handcuffs Thor had placed on him. "I thought you liked tricks." Thor laughs and continues walking down the hallway. Darcy giggles and sticks her tongue out at the irritated god of mischief and hurries after Thor. Loki scowls after them but follows along.

The trio hurries through the palace, dodging guards as they go until Thor finally calls a halt. "We will wait here. Sif should be along shortly." They don't have to wait long.

"Jane!" Darcy's face lights up, and she takes a couple of steps towards her friend. But Jane's not looking at Darcy.

"You're-"

"I'm Loki. You may have heard of me."

Janes smacks Loki across the face. "That was for New York."

Loki laughs and looks over at Thor. "I like her."

"OOh! My turn!" Darcy bounces over to the god of mischief with a big smile on her face.

"I wouldn't if I were you." Loki glares at the mortal girl, and she stops where she is. She doesn't move any closer, but she doesn't move away either. Her smile still plays about her face.

"Darcy?" Jane stares at her intern in confusion. "Wha-"

"There they are!" A loud shout at the end of the hall cuts off Jane's question. "Take them!"

"On my command."
Thor reaches for Mjolnir and steps toward the approaching guards, but Sif steps in front of him. "I'll hold them off. Take her."

"Thank you." Thor puts a hand on Jane's back and hurries her the other way, with Dacry sticking close behind.

Loki turns to follow as well but is stopped by the blade of Sif's sword at his throat. "Betray him, and I'll kill you."

The god of mischief just smiles and laughs. "It's good to see you too, Sif." Sif removes her sword from Loki's throat, allowing him to hurry along to catch up to the others.

Sif twirls her sword threateningly as she turns to take on the squad of Einherjar guards.

The four make their way through the palace to where the Dark Elf ship had crashed during their initial attack. Volstagg stands in the center of the room, waiting for them. "I will give you as much time as I can."

"Thank you, my friend." Thor leads the way onboard the harrow ship, followed closely by Jane and Darcy.

Volstagg stops Loki as he passes. "If you even think of betraying him..."

"You'll kill me? Evidently, there will be a line." Volstagg lets him go, and the god of mischief enters the ship to see Thor pressing random buttons on a control panel. "I thought you said you knew how to fly this thing."

"I said, "how hard could it be?""

The sound of combat reaches them from outside the ship.

"Well, whatever you're doing, brother, I suggest you do it faster."

"Shut up, Loki."

"You must have missed something."

"No, I didn't. I'm pressing every button on this thing!"

"No, don't hit it. Just press it gently."

Thor bangs on the console in growing anger. "I am pressing it gently! It's not working!" The harrow ship's engine whirs to life, and the lights inside flicker on. "Ha ha!"

The harrow ship slowly rises and rotates around, smashing through palace columns as it goes.

"I think you missed a column."

"Shut up!"

The dark elf ship bursts through the palace wall and out into the open skies of Asgard. Thor guides the ship through the city, twisting and diving trying to avoid crashing into anything else.

Loki steps up beside Thor, scowling. "Look, why don't you let me take over? I'm clearly the better pilot."

"Is that right? Well, out of the two of us, which one can actually fly?"

Loki continues to scowl at Thor, but it's Darcy who calls up a reply. "Yeah, but if you're the only one who can fly, wouldn't he have to be the one that can actually pilot something?!" Darcy lets out a surprised yelp as Thor abruptly brings the ship into a sharp ascent, sending Darcy and Jane stumbling against a wall.

"You see? Even the mortal understands."

Thor's only response is to scowl at his younger brother. Meanwhile, behind him, Jane falls to the floor, unconscious.

"Jane!" Darcy drops to the floor beside her friend, grabbing her hand.

"Oh, dear. Is she dead?" Loki lets out a grunt as a small piece of debris hits him in the back. He looks back to glare at the mortal woman who dared throw something at him. Darcy only glares back at him, clearly not amused by his comments.

"Jane?!" Thor looks back at Jane, anxiously.

Jane's eyes open a little, and she waves her hand at him weakly. "I'm okay."

Thor continues to try to maneuver his way out of the city. Zipping by too close to a tall building, the harrow ship crashes through the upper levels, showering rubble down into the city streets. Loki opens his mouth to comment, but Thor cuts him off. "Not a word."

Three Asgardian skiffs close in behind them.

"Now they're following us." The skiffs open fire on the fleeing ship. "Now they're firing at us."

"Yes, thank you for the commentary, Loki. It's not at all distracting!"

As they swoop towards a tunnel, the wing of the ship slices through the top of a massive statue.

"Well done, you just decapitated your grandfather."

They come out the other side of the tunnel and are finally away from the city. Below them is a great body of water, and in the distance mountains rise.

"You know, this is wonderful. This is a tremendous idea. Let's steal the biggest, most obvious ship in the universe, and escape in that! Flying around the city, smashing into everything in sight, so everyone can see us. It's brilliant, Thor! It's truly brilliant!"

Thor turns away from the controls and shoves Loki backward out the open door. The god of mischief lets out a started cry as he disappears from sight. Thor looks at Jane where she lies on the floor, and he quickly scoops her up in his arms. Only then does he notice the way Darcy is looking at him.

Darcy's hands are up, covering her open mouth, and her eyes are wide as saucers. In response, Thor only flashes her a big smile.

"Holy shit! Dude-" Thor leans Jane's limp form against his shoulder and wraps his now free arm around Darcy.

He hurriedly pulls her over to the open door. "No, no. No! NO!" Without saying a word, the god of thunder pushed Darcy out the door as well. The girl's protests are cut off by her own screams as she falls through the air. Darcy squeezes her eyes shut and braces herself to be splattered.

Her scream cuts off as the breath is suddenly knocked out of her. She lets out a relieved sigh and opens her eyes. That wasn't pleasant, but at least she didn't go splat. Someone had caught her! Still trying to remind herself to breathe in all the excitement, she looks up to see the face of the man who had apparently caught her.

"Well, hello there." The blonde man flashes a bright smile at the woman in his arms. "And they tell me pretty women don't just fall from the sky."

"Fandral!" Darcy's eyes light up as she recognizes one of Thor's friends who had come to New Mexico. "Boy, am I glad to see you again!" She plants a kiss on his cheek as she puts her feet down on the deck of a small Asgardian skiff. She looks around to see Loki slowly picking himself up off the floor and Thor gently setting Jane down on the deck Darcy's smile turns to a scowl as she marches toward Thor. "And you, what's the big idea? You pushed me! That fall could have killed me, asshole!"

Thor opens his mouth, but no words come out. He at least tries to look apologetic.

Loki steps up beside Darcy, his eyes trained on the harrow ship which is currently zooming off toward the distant mountains with the other Asgardian skiffs still in pursuit. "You lied to me." He says, turning his gaze to his brother. "I'm impressed."

"I'm glad you're pleased. Now, do as you promised. Take us to your secret pathway."

Loki takes Fandral's place at the tiller, and a smile spreads on his face as he sends the skiff speeding across the water. He turns them off to the right, drawing the attention of another of the pursuing skiffs. He weaves the skiff left and right to avoid the shots fired by their pursuers. Loki steers them higher in the air, now a ways above the other skiff.

"Fandral."

"Right." Fandral picks up the end of a rope off the deck. "For Asgard." And he steps off the edge, using the rope to swing himself onto the other skiff. Dary leans over the edge of their skiff, watching as Fandral fights the Asgardian guards. As the last guard falls unconscious at his feet, the blonde warrior looks up at the fleeing skiff and salutes to the finally successfully escaping god of thunder.

The skiff flies towards the side of a mountain. Loki makes no move to change their course, prompting anxious glances from all on board. As they get closer, a small opening in the side of the rockface comes into view.

"Loki..."

"If it were easy, everyone would do it."

"Are you mad?"

"Possibly."

The skiff enters the narrow cave, scraping through with both sides creating sparks against the walls. They continue to crash through the cave, Loki not allowing them to lose any more speed than necessary.

The cave begins to shimmer with a light not from the sparks. The multicolored glow fills the cave with increasing brightness.

With a final flash, the skiff bursts from its confinement into the open air of Svartalfheim. The skiff falls to the blackened ground with a crash before skipping across the sand like a pebble on water.

Darcy shuts her mouth as she only now realizes she's been screaming. Thor stares ahead as if he's still unsure as to whether or not they truly survived. Jane is blissfully unaware of the whole thing as she continues to lie unconscious on the floor.

Loki maintains a tight grip on the tiller and bears a proud grin on his face. "Ta-da!"