Utter Darkness

“Because what is a grand betrayal, without an audience.” Loki bowed like a showman.

They all laughed. Tears filled Darcy’s eyes and spilled over; she couldn’t even move to wipe them away.

Loki gave her a look of mock concern, “What is the matter my pet? Do you not care for how this turned out? You will be my queen. Isn’t that what you’ve longed for all along?” He reached through the magic with his left hand and brushed the tears from her cheek. The contact was gentle, belying the cruel words he spoke. As though he could sense her anger he chuckled, “Do you not see how much better this is? Thanos shall wipe this realm clean of the vermin that is humanity, and we shall be free to go wherever we please. Is it not better that you become mine, than to die with the rest?”

Her only thoughts were how much she’d like to kill him.

His eyes narrowed. “I can see how my choice has upset you.” He leaned very close whispering in her ear. “Did you really believe that I wanted you, that I desired you? If you were to die right now, do you think that I would care or think about you for even a moment after you were gone?”

In her head, she was screaming at him. He leaned back and gave her an evil smile, “Perhaps I should allow Thanos to sacrifice you, I’d certainly be better off not having a little mortal whimpering after me, but I've always had a soft spot for naïvety.”

He stepped away from her, his magic acting as a tether, and dragging her along behind him. As she hovered above the ground, she could see the devastation left behind from the battle with the Avengers. There were so many dead SHEILD agents scattered around the park. Darcy could hardly breathe. This was all her fault. She found him in the void and brought him here. Every one of these deaths could be laid directly at her feet. Loki and Thanos were still talking but she could hardly stand to hear them speak. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the copse of trees that only partially hid the still recovering Avengers. He had even lied about that. They weren’t hidden by any spell; Thanos and The Other knew that Loki had saved them.

Her stomach was tight as Thor came into view. The god of thunder was lying on the ground, his breathing was shallow, and he looked beat to hell. Loki kept walking and came to a stop. She was hovering directly over Thor. She couldn’t see myeh-myuh anywhere. She cried because it was all she could do. He had manipulated her so perfectly; he had taken her memories and still managed to get her to have feelings for him. His sad little puppy eyes, he knew JARVIS was watching, he was putting on a show the whole damn time.

Suddenly a thought occurred to her. He said the gauntlet would corrupt him. Maybe his behavior was because of the gauntlet. But then she remembered the misty green magic glove he put on to protect himself.

Loki and Thanos were walking again Loki gestured broadly over the devastation. Thanos and The Other laughed. It made Darcy so angry, his casual dismissal of so many lives. As her anger grew Loki’s spell seemed to weaken.

They continued to walk and chat; Thanos seemed content with Loki wearing his gauntlet now that he was certain of the god’s loyalty.

She could finally blink and work her mouth. “Damn you.” She growled.

They all turned to her. Loki looked slightly shocked but immediately his mask of casual indifference was back up. “You’d better kill me because if you try to lay one damn hand on me you’ll pull back a bloody stump. You’re a monster and I hate you.” The more hate she spewed the looser the hold of his magic became.

He leaned closer as his eyes narrowed. His voice dropped to a wicked low whisper as he taunted, “That’s not the way you felt a few days ago when you came so beautifully with your hand between your thighs and my name on your lips.”

“Fuck you Loki.” She spat on his face. She struggled in the magic; she wanted to hit him so bad.

He grinned at her. “I don’t suppose you remember, but we’ve done that already. Don’t worry I didn’t find it all that memorable either.”

His magic over her broke and she launched herself at him with an inhuman growl, knocking them both to the ground. She was all teeth and claws, her fingernails tore at his face as she kneed him in the groin. He grunted when her knee made contact and struggled for a brief moment because of his shock but then he regained control. He easily subdued her, she lay face down with him draped across her back and his left hand pinning both of her hands behind her. He rutted at her backside. “Is this not your natural place, face down on the ground submitting to your god?” he panted.

Thanos’ laugh shook the ground. Loki looked up sharply, his eyes focused on something on the other side of the park, something Darcy could not see. Loki stood and hauled Darcy to her feet. Her shoulders wrenched painfully as he did not loosen his grip. Her eyes were drawn to the blood streaming down his cheek. He carefully swiped the gauntleted hand across the blood as his face split with a cruel smile, “Hellcat,” he muttered.

“Perhaps she is more trouble than she worth.” The Other offered.

“Perhaps you’re right,” Loki looked her as if he were weighing options in his mind.

Suddenly he was in motion, he pulled her close, whispered, “Close your eyes,” and threw her.

She could feel herself flying up into the air; a scream tore through her as she hit the apex of her flight and began falling towards the ground. Her breath caught as she stopped abruptly a few feet from impact. She carefully opened one eye and looked down; her body lay broken on the ground. She hovered over it surrounded by a silvery-blue glow. She began floating back towards the trees and all she could think was ‘That was a crap way to die.’ But she didn’t really feel dead.

The silvery-blue glow seemed to melt away and Darcy stood in the middle of the woods wondering what the hell happened. She pinched her arm, it hurt so she wasn’t dreaming or dead but she couldn’t figure out how it looked like her body was lying out there in the middle of the park.

“He’s fortunate I was so skilled at knattleikr as a girl. That was a terrible throw.” A beautiful blonde woman came striding through the trees. Her hair was curled and piled elegantly on her head. She wore a blue toga-looking dress and golden armor. “I do apologize, duplication magic can be a bit disorienting at first, but I had to make it look as if your body was out there.”

Darcy swallowed, “You’re Loki’s mom aren’t you?”

She smiled and took Darcy’s hands. “Yes, I am Frigga, and you must be the lovely Darcy Lewis who has so captured my Loki’s heart.”

Darcy shook her head and pulled away wringing her hands, “I’m Darcy alright, but I don’t know if he ever really cared about me. I mean he just threw my away like I was garbage. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this but he’s gone over to the dark side.”

Frigga looked at her quizzically.

“Umm, he’s working for the bad guys now.” Darcy explained.

“And what would make you think that, my dear girl?” Frigga gave her a rueful smile.

“Umm, cause he called humans vermin and said Thanos was gonna wipe us out.”

“He did not say anything about doing harm himself though…”

Darcy felt slightly confused, “It’s kinda implied, don’t ya think?”

Frigga sighed, “My dear sweet girl, he is the god of lies and mischief and chaos. I know that he hurt you with his words but he has done so much good also. Is it so much easier for you to believe him to be truthful in evil things and lying in the good?”

Darcy struggled with the question, “I want to believe good in him but I mean look…” She grabbed Frigga by the arm and pulled the goddess to the edge of the trees. Darcy gasped, Loki stood beside Thanos and The Other laughing as he used his magic to toss around Thor’s limp form.

Frigga squinted at the scene before them, shook her head, grasped Darcy’s hand, and looked again. “Oh my.” She let go of Darcy’s hand.

“See?” Darcy pointed wildly at Loki.

“Oh my dear sweet child, I fear it is you who cannot see. You are one of the few who will ever be able to see through Loki’s illusions, but you have to want to.”

“What? I don’t understand.”

Frigga sighed, “I suppose you wouldn’t. The reason you began seeing Loki in your dreams is because of me. When Thor brought Loki back to Asgard there was a madness in him, I could feel his sanity slipping away. I sought help from the only ones powerful enough to help. The Norns are a trio of witches, they have been known to your people in many ways, the fates, the wyrd sisters, or even in some cultures, they were known as the triune goddess. They told me the only way to save him was to bring him together with his soul mate. So I cast my magic out over the whole of the Nine Realms with a spell that would draw his soulmate to him. My spell drew you to him.”

Darcy pulled away, overwhelmed. “What the hell! So let’s save Loki, forget about the feelings of the poor sucker that gets stuck with Senor Psycopath. You guys are all the same; Thor’s the only one I see any potential in. Sure, he didn’t start out that way but he figured it out eventually. He’s the only one that sees us as his equals. You can’t just mess around with people hearts and lives like that!”

Frigga was quiet as Darcy lost her temper. When Darcy ran out of steam Frigga quirked an eyebrow, and asked with patience. “Do you feel better now that you’ve spoken your piece?” Darcy huffed and turned away. “Again I fear you misunderstand. My spell only drew you to him the first time. You always had control over whether or not you returned.”

Darcy turned to gape at her, “What?” the word was barely more than a whisper.

“My spell gave you the power to return or not but the choice was always yours. The spell had naught to do with the feelings that developed between the two of you. I simply facilitated the first meeting.” Darcy stood stock still in shock. “Perhaps this would be easier to accept if I return your memories.” She reached to touch Darcy’s face and the younger woman recoiled.

“Wait, wait. Holy crap, that’s a lot to take in just give me a minute.” Darcy felt like the world was turning end over end on her. She took a deep breath and turned back to Frigga. “Loki said he wasn’t sure that it was even possible…”

Frigga smiled again, “My dear I have been practicing magic for nearly three times as long as he’s been alive. I think I know a bit more than my son.”

Frigga had been nothing but kind to her and the idea made sense. Darcy was way freaked out but she nodded. Frigga directed her to sit on a fallen log and gently laid her hands on either side of Darcy’s face. Darcy felt kind of warm and woozy as images and snippets of conversations floated through her mind. She could hear Frigga muttering, “A bit ham-fisted... spent too much time training… not nearly enough time studying…” She clucked her tongue and for a moment Darcy’s head felt too full and she worried her head might actually burst open like a cartoon.

Frigga stepped back, Darcy’s vision swam, and her ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton. Her whole body wobbled as her mind struggled to sift the memories back in to place. Frigga stepped back in front of her and Darcy could see about three of her as she tried to wave her away. Darcy was certain she was about to be sick.

“Breathe dear breathe.” Frigga insisted.

Darcy grimaced and Frigga whispered, “Hmm, I think this should do the trick.” She snapped right in front of Darcy’s face and it what as if everything in her mind shifted just slightly and slid in to place.

Darcy’s head cleared and suddenly she remembered everything. Tears gathered in her eyes as all of the emotions connected to the memories flooded back as well. She curled in on herself, sobs wracking her body, his words hurt so much more with all her memories returned.

Frigga sat beside her and rubbed her back. “He loves you; all of this, even his hurtful words are because he loves you and desires to protect you. You are his soulmate. I can see through some of his illusions but you will be able to see through them all.”

Darcy sat up with a gasp. “I could see his markings, even when he looks Asgardian, I could still see and feel the ridges.”

Frigga smiled, “I knew there was something special about you.” She winked at Darcy and gently pulled her to her feet. She led Darcy back to the edge of the tree line and squeezed Darcy’s hands gently, “Now, look again.” She asked softly.

Darcy turned and it was as if she was looking at two scenes superimposed on one another. Loki stood beside Thanos and was tossing Thor like before but he was also kneeling beside an injured Thor, his magic moving over Thor’s wounds healing him. She watched as they spoke to each other. When she looked closer, the version nearest to Thanos seemed to flicker like a bad light bulb. She pulled away from Frigga. “What the heck was that?”

Frigga quirked an eyebrow, “That my dear was the truth.”

“Why didn’t he tell what he was planning? I could have helped.”

“He did ask you to stay with the others did he not?”

“Well yeah but…”

“And if he had told you his plans, would your reaction have been so authentic, your anger so pure, your hatred so bitter?”

“I guess not… I just, I just don’t know what to think.” She leaned against a tree and looked over the park. Her eyes now opened by all that she knew and felt, she could see Loki’s magic hovering over the park hiding all of the ‘dead’ SHIELD agents as they began to stir.

Frigga stood close to her, “The words he spoke to you were false, he had to find a reason, a way to ‘throw you away’ without magic, the gauntlet, or Thanos’ interference. Your hatred-filled attack gave him that reason.”

They watched as the false Loki continued to talk to Thanos, and the real Loki moved quickly through the park seeing to the more injured of the agents. He stumbled as he stood and Frigga took a small involuntary step forward. “He is doing too much; he’s going to exhaust himself magically. He won’t be able to fight the pull of the gauntlet if he continues.”

The real Loki seemed to have come to the same conclusion. He paused for a moment, his body hunched over, his hands on his knees, breathing deeply. He stood pale as a ghost, walked over to his duplicate, and merged with it. There was a spell over his face hiding his poor state. He turned towards Thanos and The Other. He patted The Other firmly with the gauntleted hand and Darcy saw The Other split. An image of The Other continued to stand and talk to Loki and the real Other fell to the ground, invisible to everyone else, and most likely dead.

Under the cover of Loki’s magic the recovered agents, Nick Fury, and the Avengers began to close in on Loki and Thanos.

Thanos twitched and looked at the image of The Other. He slashed a large hand through it dissipating it. “Do you think me a weak-minded fool, little godling? That I would not be able to see through your petty magic? You’ve killed my best general; I understand your hatred of him, from his torture and his taunting. However, I cannot allow you to continue to carry my gauntlet if I cannot trust that you will not take out your trivial grievances with it. Return my gauntlet now.” Thanos insisted.

Loki turned again and leveled the gauntlet at Thanos. “I don’t think I will, I’ve grown quite attached to it and killing The Other may be only the first death caused by my hand today.” Loki grinned broadly.

He raised his left hand sweeping away his illusions. Loki and Thanos were surrounded by the Avengers and SHEILD, all locked and loaded.

Thanos seemed surprised. “What is the meaning of this?”

“Did I not tell you already? What is a grand betrayal, without an audience?”

There was no chance for the Mad Titan to answer; Loki allowed the golden glow from the gauntlet to cover him as he directed the full force of the gauntlet’s power at Thanos. Thanos’ great body shook, as he seemed to come undone, as if every molecule separated from the other, Thanos shuddered, and simply ceased to exist.

A huge cheer went up from the crowd as Loki collapsed to the ground. Darcy and Frigga ran towards him. Several agents held Frigga back but no one seemed to notice Darcy. She pushed her way through the crowd, knelt beside Loki, rolled him unto his back, pulled his helmet off, and laid his head on her lap. He was paler than she’d ever seen; gaunt like he’d gone months without food, and the skin around his eyes looked pinched and bruised. “Oh babe, what the hell happened?” she asked softly.

His eyes slowly opened, “The gauntlet doesn’t like me; I just destroyed its master.” His voice sounded ragged.

She reached over his body to take it off of him, but he pulled the gauntleted hand away. “No, don’t touch it; it would try to contaminate you as well.”

“Okay, so how do we get if off of you?”

“Is Stark around?”

“Tony!” she called as she looked through the surrounding crowd of SHIELD agents. “I’m sure he’s here somewhere.”

Loki grinned, “Don’t tell Stark but I played with his suits a bit. I made them resistant to the magic of the gauntlet in case Thanos managed to recover it.”

“Aww, I’m touched. You do care.” Tony’s voice came from over Darcy’s shoulder.

“Don’t let it go to your head Stark. The alteration to your suits was merely a contingency plan. So in the unlikely event Thanos regained the Infinity Gauntlet, there would be at least one immune to its powers. I wasn’t expecting you to break your fool neck so early in the day.”

“Ha ha, like that was I woke up hoping would happen today.” Tony snarked.

“Alright you two that’s enough. Tony would you just take the damn thing off his arm before it sucks the life out of him, please?”

Tony reached down and pulled the gauntlet off of Loki’s arm. “Hey Nicky! Look at what I found!” he shouted as he walked over to the director.

Darcy smoothed the hair away from Loki’s face and smiled softly at him. Loki grinned wryly up at her, “I suppose I shouldn’t risk upsetting you while in such a vulnerable state, but I must say I’m enjoying the view.”

Darcy looked down and realized what he was talking about, “Jerk! You know I’m still a little pissed at you for all the crap you said back there." her eyes narrowed, "And how the hell did you know what happened Saturday night?”

“I may have snuck into your apartment and witnessed it in person. Stark said he didn’t think you’d mind.”

“TONY!” Darcy yelled.

Tony looked over at Darcy and Loki, knew he was in trouble, gave them a crooked smile, and said, “Oh hey, I almost forgot I’m supposed to go let Pepper know what’s going on.” He powered up the repulsors and flew off towards the tower.

Darcy scowled. “Okay little suggestion; never take advice about relationships from Tony, he sucks at relationships.”

“Funny he said nearly the same thing. You’re not going to yell at me are you? I’m still feeling so terribly weak.” Loki pulled a sad pouty face.

Darcy looked down at him; he was using a spell to make himself look far more run down than he was. In fact, he seemed to be recovering remarkably quickly.

She leaned down very close and whispered in his ear. “It’s too bad you’re feeling so poorly, I had planned to do such naughty things with you to celebrate since my memory returned and I wanted…”

Suddenly they were both standing, he had his arms wrapped around her, and hope bright in his eyes. “Your memories have returned?”

She smiled brightly tears in her eyes, “You mom fixed them. I remember everything.”

Loki grinned and threaded a hand into her hair. “That blessed woman, remind me to thank her later, much much later.” His voice dropped to a hoarse whisper as he leaned down…

“See, I told you the gauntlet would not kill you,” Thor’s booming voice startled her and they both looked up sharply. Thor was standing just inside the ring of agents surrounding them, Frigga tucked neatly under his arm. Though whether she was holding him up, or he was supporting her, was difficult to tell.

“Thank you Thor. Your timing as always is impeccable.” Loki growled. Darcy giggled.

“I am glad the two of you have set things right. Love can conquer many things, right many wrongs.” Thor beamed. “Speaking of which where is my Jane? This is a time for celebrations.”

Darcy and Loki shared a guilty look. “Well big guy, we kinda trapped her at the tower so she’d be safe.” Darcy shrugged.

Thor gave them a disappointed look. “I had promised her she could be here, that I would keep her safe.”

“Well JARVIS locked us in the tower this morning, and then when we finally busted out and got here Tony had him take us back.” Darcy grinned at Loki, “Of course he had his own plans.”

“Loki…” Thor began.

Suddenly the majority of the agents turned, recognition dawning on their faces.

“Thank you so much Thor, for ruining my anonymity spell.” Loki growled, the now fully armed agents began closing in. “Change of plans, min elskede, close your eyes.”

As the disorienting feeling washed over her, Darcy smiled. She had no idea where they were going, they still had a lot of issues to work on, but she was happy to go wherever he wanted to take her.

Notes

Wow, so marathon posting! I hope everyone enjoyed the last few chapters. I will have chap 24 up next Monday and 25/epilogue on the week following that.

I've had an absolute blast with this story! I really appreciate everyone who's taken the time to write out reviews.