~=High Rise=~

First Day

*Marvel

*Loki Odinson and Darcy Lewis

AN: This is AU with there never having been an Asgard of myth, no magical world of any sort, just the modern day usual world. Loki is human, though still BA and powerful, just in the human way. I did hint at Avengers and TDW but in non-magicy ways. But Loki is technically "ruling" so I guess this would be after TDW but it's kind of Thor 1 as well.


Slender fingers tucked a long, dark wave of effortless-no, carefully fixed, sprayed, gelled, and made to seem effortless-curl off a soft, curved cheekbone that had taken far too much makeup treatment for one day but you could never tell by looking. Darcy Lewis, the young, feminine, beautifully spunky attorney was on the rise, figuratively a well as literally, at the present.

The "on the rise" part was making her very nervous at the moment which was why she spent hours previously making every strand of hair, every eyelash, every button or pleat, and every brush of powder perfect to give her the tiniest bit more confidence ... in hopes tiny would be enough to cover her terror. On the rise had a big way of falling flat, meaning a bloody, greasy spot at the bottom of a cliff. Never a good look on anyone!

Of all the men, places, times, and assignments she could have been handed this would never have been on her list of hopes. She was quite sure her boss, genius, cutthroat, Tony Stark, had it out for her when he told her this was her new case. Her law firm, S.H.I.E.L.D - the meaning of which the acronym long ago escaped her - worked largely for Stark industries; meaning he could ask for favors and get what he wanted because he had more money than the ocean had fish. She tended to think of him as her boss as much as she did director Fury.

Darcy took in an unintentionally shaky breath as her high heels clicked along the chilly marble floor, glass walls on each side of her not only increasing the echoing but adding to her nervousness every time she dared let herself look down to the street below. Walking through the glass hallway made her feel like a fish swimming in dangerous waters or maybe like those people that walked in the under water tunnel with those sharks just outside and if the glass ever broke... Yeah.

Who built this stuff anyway? Why did they build hallways to connect two buildings with GLASS when it was several stories up? Sure, she knew there was metal too, but why build something like this at all? Problem waiting to happen.
Being up high was honestly the smallest issue she had to worry about though and that was just sad. Her main issue was her would be business appointment and soon to be "buddy" besides Stark until this was over, which could never come too soon for her after looking in depth into the man she had to work with for the next month. Loki Odinson, a cutthroat above even Stark or the rest.

That man took down businesses and people like it was child's play. He single handedly "dethroned" the big man of Asgard Incorporate, not to mention his own father. The self made lord of conflict and deception pulled the proverbial rug out from under his well feared father and the intended successor of the company, his older brother, in a single brilliant takeover that broadsided the entire industry. She did not know all the details but she heard plenty about his unforseen magic act.

He was a shark with a mouth full of teeth if ever there was one and she had to take the plunge and swim with him. Stark told her to negotiate as well as watch his every move in this business deal. She was the spy of sorts, the negotiator, the hopeful peacekeeper. She was told to give Odinson anything he asked for, acquiesce to his whims, within reason or capability on Stark's side. Today was going to be horrible. She questioned Stark in his sanity for such an order but she would obey. They had a weird history so she knew things might be hectic.

It had not been that long ago that the young man tried to take over Stark Industry. It had taken Tony a lot of calling in favors, playing nice-ish with other big fish, and calling in some of the best guns in the entire business world, and maybe a little darker, to keep his company. Loki nearly brought it down to the ground and that was saying something when it involved the Teflon King himself. No one got the better of Stark but Loki almost had.

And little, wide eyed, still-learning-the-ropes Darcy had to try to match him and outsmart him. Perfect and so typical of life to hand her that just after things were going so well and she was getting in good with the business world.

Her lashes fluttered nervously a she closed her eyes, reaching for the door handle she wished she did not have to turn. The typical confidence and "sass" people said she had was taking a hard hit today and she had never felt more like a crab in a boiling pot in her life ... and she hadn't even walked into the man's office yet.

She did not want to be here but that never actually mattered in life, she learned that a long time ago. What you had to do and wanted to do were very rarely the same thing. She wanted to bolt and say forget it before her entire career was ruined and she ended up on the street; too bad she had never been smart enough to run and not be stubborn.

Better get it over with, she guessed.

Her carefully pressed pencil skirt brushed at her knees as she pushed through the door and confidently strolled to the desk with the pretty little blond, the type Stark would have sampled in his previous days before he grew up and opened his eyes to Pepper.
"I'm here representing Stark-" Darcy began her crisp speech only to be cut off rudely by a typical receptionist tone informing her curtly that she was expected.

The brunette waltzed back to the large office she was pointed to before hesitating. Should she knock or would that make her seem timid? Better to seem too brazen than look as terrified as she was so she quickly decided to march in like she thought she owned that office. Heaven help her!

With more force than needed, she tossed the door open, shoulders squared and chin up. Vibrant, soft but tigeresque green eyes snapped up from his screen to greet her and her steps hitched in spite of herself. The Armani suit and expensive looking desk; and everything else expensive in the world; she expected but innocent features, high cheekbones, dark hair cut slightly on the long side; long enough to curl at the ends, just long enough to hover over the perfect shell of his ears ... not so much. Even seated he looked formidable behind that huge and ornate monster of a desk. She thought he would be older for all he'd done already but he was her age - god she hoped he wasn't younger, that would put her life into perspective fast.

He looked strangely innocent if you didn't notice his eyes, beautiful in color but sparking with poorly hidden malice and peril.
"Ms. Lewis, I presume." A liquid silk, melted chocolate voice snarled carefully at her like he was trying to growl it out without seeming like he was growling; a picture in her mind of a wolf with a sheep skin surfaced just from his voice alone.

She had the instant feeling of being on the edge of a precipice or maybe stepping out on her bare feet on a very thin stretch of ice. "Mr. Odinson." Darcy returned the tone as well as she could but it never sounded as intimidating when she growled as when a man with a deeper voice did. She crossed the room like she did not secretly want to bolt right back the way she had come.

"Quite punctual..." His sharp eyes shot to the clock on the muted gray wall, "a little early even. Always a good sign on the first day."

She blinked at him, unsure what he wanted her to say. This was not a job interview, she already had the job so why was he acting like her performance could make or break this; then again, maybe he was right and she should watch her every step. No use letting him get her guard down just because his voice could melt ice with that subtle accent she could not quite place; she was very bad with accents, they all sounded nice and some sounded darn well the same to her so she knew better than to guess.

He leaned forward on his elbows, long fingers tenting under his chin as he starred at her from his seated position behind the dark wood desk; she did not miss the intentional slight of him not even extending the common courtesy of standing in greeting or even offering his hand to her. "How is Stark these days?"

Darcy kept her words crisp and short-why play sweet girl when he didn't give her reason, "Mr. Stark is quite well." If he had been nice she might have lied and said Tony sent his regards.

For the first time, those thin, sharp, curved lips smiled and she was shocked by how sweet he looked wearing such a face; he looked like a totally different person. "I am pleased to hear it."

Smiles would not get her that easy and she was very careful to keep her expression blank, "Mr. Odinson, what say you to ending any surface pleasant chatter for the moment and skipping to the reason I was sent?" The more on edge she was the more formally and abruptly to the point she became in her speech, it was a trait she learned to adopt rather than her old habit of running her mouth when nervous.

A slight touch of surprise flickered behind the shine of his eyes but he smiled again and nodded, "Very well, it's not as if we're fooling each other, now is it?" The smile grew a fraction darker with the lowering dip of his voice, his green eyes dancing with slightly terrifying interest. "You are here to convince me to agree to Stark's demands in our deal and I'm here to see how far I can push him...how much does he need me is the general question, how low he is willing to bow for this deal of the century between our companies, isn't it?"

Maybe, she had to think now, her decision to be blunt might have been ill advised considering the manner of man she was facing. "I'm not sure that would have been my choice of words, but in basic nature, you are correct."

His intonation dipped lower still as his volume sank to an intimidatingly quiet, secretive threat level, "My description might not have been your wording preference but it was no less accurate. We both know the motives behind cooperation, we both simply want to exploit the situation for our own gain, so I am relieved to see we can end the dance."

This man was frightening when you looked into his eyes,l ittle wonder people were uncomfortable with him.

"Then please," Darcy plunged ahead for lack of any other way to precede now that she expertly just ensured her first day was going to be horrible, "allow me to say that Stark Industry seeks a pleasant negotiation ... however, we are prepared for anything considering past history." There, she got that bombshell out of the way! "We have our interests as you have yours so it would be nice if both parties came away happy but that does not always happen.

She smiled sweetly to soften her words but they were no less true, and if he thought she would back down, he was crazy, "Do understand though, Mr. Odinson, we will not come away with less than we deserve. Mr. Stark does not make it a habit to get less than what he asks."

She just shot herself in the face in less than five whole minutes in his office and she had no idea why she had done it! He looked quizzical but combative and this was going to be the worst first day she had ever had in any job ... and she did it to herself in her desperation to seem tough. If he made her cry in the following five minutes she would neither be shocked or undeserving with the killer ground work she just set down.

"I will keep that in mind but please understand that I am also not accustomed to getting less than my way. Deals have a tendency to go according to my wishes." He simply purred at her.

"Not when it comes to Stark Industries, I have heard." Even her eyes widened at her own obvious declaration of war, someone save this traitorous tongue of hers, please! What was she doing? Good heavens! Why did she not shut up?

Loki's expression was wholly blank for a moment before he leaned back in his chair and chuckled, a dark sound that sent a chill up her spine, "Well then, we will see which of us has a stronger will, Ms. Lewis." He waved at the leather couch in the corner, "I just decided that I would like the first counter offer before you leave today. You may work over there."

Oh, ouch... it was going to be worse than she thought.

"Don't bother me too much with questions, some of us have other deals to attend while you are here. I am a busy man. You will have your time well occupied as you go through the paperwork I have prepared for you."

Deciding she let her mouth go wild enough for one day she simply nodded, reached into her briefcase to set her own stack of papers on his desk and meekly moved to the couch. A very thick stack of papers was perched on the stand next to it and she set to work on them in utter silence. He did not so much as glance her way again as he worked across the room, lithe fingers tapping away at the computer.

His office was huge, a far cry from her own little cubicle. She would have preferred he stashed her in an out of the way closet rather than sticking her on his couch. It was unnerving to be trapped in the same room with him without a desk to hide behind. She felt like the awkward little freshman allowed to observe real business for a day as an assignment for extra credit. Knowing he was a strategist, that could easily be it, him letting her know that she was on his territory and she was in the way. It would not have shocked her if he were trying to intimidate her and put her in her place by not even offering her any space of her own even though she knew this building had it.

The cold atmosphere of gray, black and white decor was enough to signal everyone that he did not invite them to stay. The display weapons carefully placed on shelves and a couple mounted on the walls sent a rather clear message too.

He was a blade guy, an expensive hobby judging by the amount of metal in the sword above her head.

She shifted on the couch, cringing at the noise it caused. She hated leather for that. The papers were already starting to blanket her lap and the reaching surface of the couch. There wasn't even a table to set a drink on. Her lap would have to be enough even though it made this so much harder. She shot Stark and Fury a quick summary of Odinson's request to let them know what to expect, to which Tony repeated his earlier statement of; "keep him happy."

This was loathsome but there was no way she would complain. Darcy just stuck her pen between her teeth as she flipped through the pages, scribbling when needed or circling parts she wanted to bring up in conversation later. She wanted to read through everything at least twice before she dared speak to Odinson or Stark so she knew the material.

It did not even register that time was moving by until Loki picked up the phone and ordered himself a late lunch. She noticed that he pointedly did not offer her anything nor did he suggest she take a break. His lunch came and she made sure not to look up even once. She made no obvious sign she knew he was alive even as he consumed his Chinese - which smelled amazing - and simply kept on scribbling away. She had her legal pad out by now and she was furiously writing all her little notes and suggestions and issues with the conditions. Her ipad perched on one knee while the papers continued to spread out around her, even pooling at her feet for lack of another place for them.

Loki was good at creating very appealing sounding terms but if you listened to the content it was blatantly obvious how many back door options he left for himself. For every offer and concession there were at least three ways she could think of that he could twist it to ensure he came out miles above Stark. That was not going to pass under her nose so easily! She intended to head him off at every pass!

Darcy was engrossed enough in finding all Loki's personal Easter eggs that she did not even notice when he began turning on the overhead lights nor did she notice it getting darker outside. One of her strengths and weaknesses was being a work addict, especially when the other party happened to piss her off.

Her eyes were killing her and she had to close them and remove her glasses several times but she tried to hide it. She was desperate for a drink since her coffee fix had been just before she got here but she dared not look at the clock. It had finally dawned on her two hours after he turned on the lights that it was darker outside but she ignored it, determined not to even consider leaving until he did and she did not care how late that was. She did not want to know what time it was, dreaded knowing even though her numb legs and even more numb hind end told her well enough. Her lower half was so far past tingling, it was just dead. Standing would be a challenge once he finally made a move.

Darcy nearly jumped out of her skin when that velvet voice hit her ears suddenly, "Ms. Lewis, perhaps you should take a break."

Her blue eyes darted up to look at him, annoyed that he did not look even slightly tired, "Thank you for your concern but I'm fine." She was back to a pleasant tongue, thankfully, despite her mood.

His green eyes showed a dull irritation for a moment, "You did not take a lunch, you should at least go get dinner."

Her full lips turned up in a smile, curious to know if he needed her to leave for some reason, an expected call perhaps, "I believe I will be fine. I skip lunch often. You know how easy it is to get wrapped up in things."

His thin but soft curving jaw set in hidden enmity and he said nothing for a minute, "Very well. I'm going out to the café on the second floor."

She noticed he did not invite her to join him but she nodded at him as he strolled past her. His legs were long, she observed, long and lanky. He was thinner than she originally thought, that suit hugging his straight waist and narrow hips.

Darcy twitched, eyes falling instantly to her ipad when it occurred to her that she was assessing his body. Not the best idea but she stopped herself before he would have had time to notice.

She did so much looking into his business life and none at all into his personal. It was lack of foresight on her part. Had she been smart she would have desensitized herself to his good looks but she had never been one to be easily taken in by a handsome face or sleek figure anyway.
Thankfully she did not blush easy like a few of her friends did. When she was young she used to blush easily but she managed to school that.

The very second he closed the door behind him was the moment she shoved the papers of her lap to stand. Her legs were not ready for the act and she nearly fell back down. Numb did not even begin to cover the fact that she would not have even known she had legs if she did not know she had them. They moved when she focused but she could not feel them moving. Nothing below her waist felt real, it was more like she was floating on some thick clouds. She stretched her arms up over her head and tried to do a few yoga stretches but they were clumsy at best. It did feel better, though painful, to move again.

Her back and shoulders were knotted up. A couch was so not ideal for paperwork even though it seemed like it should be. It might have been all in the mind because she could sit on her own couch through several movies in a row and feel fine but put work in her hand and the body protested.

She could at least relax now that he was gone. When he was around she felt like she had to sit up straight and keep her posture perfect, which got old. There was no way to really tell if he was going to be gone a while or not. He seemed very much the type to tell one thing from those smooth lips and do something very different in order to throw off his opponent. He might be gone long enough to eat and make a call or he might walk back in after three second, no way to tell.

Still, good things did not come to the faint of heart so she took a stroll over to his desk to see what she might be able to uncover.

First thing he must have done before walking out was put his computer in hibernation and she was quite sure it would be password protected, there was no way a careful creature like him would do otherwise so the compute was out. The papers were a different story!

Just a glance at a few of the letterheads told her that this man was in bed with a lot of companies which was unsettling to say the least. He had his fingers in a lot of deals if a speed read of those letters was a judge. Stark needed to watch his back or he might be in for round two of another takeover try.

Then again, if any of this was secret there was no way that man would leave it out, not when a quick try of his desk drawers told her he locked everything before he left. If anything, he might have wanted her to see these.

Darcy was quick to move away from the desk just in case he returned so she opted for a further walk around the room to get a feel, however poor, for the man. He was a heavy reader of law judging by the different volumes of his shelves; everyone in her world had these, sometimes just for show, but she could tell that these had been used. When she slipped one out bravely she noticed some of the pages were dogeared or traced with various colors of liner. He used these alright.

She slipped it back into the hole and let her eyes travel over other titles. The other books, and he had many, were all of high reading stature. He had King Lear, Othello, The Canturbery Tales, Don Quixote, Hamlet, The Raven ... and all were some very expensive editions. These had not been marked but she could tell they had indeed been opened, so unless he got them at a garage sale, which she could not picture, nor could she see the father he betrayed giving them to him, the only answer was that he purchased them for pleasure. There was a scrap of paper peeking out of one, she noticed, like he had been in the middle of reading it and was interrupted.

He was intelligent to be able to read some of these in their very un-revised old English. Shakespeare was clearly a favorite on his shelf but so was Poe and several poets. Her fingers traveled over the shelves, not daring to touch these books because books of this kind were always private in her mind, but allowing herself a moment to admire. If not for the fact that he was cruel and heartless, she might have liked him for his taste.

Back in the day, the horrible years of high school, people made fun of the book worms. The girls with glasses got picked on by the cheerleaders and Jocks. It was funny how the world flipped when adulthood came around and suddenly reading was not pathetic but necessary and an attractive trait. Running with the big boys suddenly meant hanging with the guy with a brain rather than the boy with big muscles and little else. Youth taught you one thing while growing up taught you to know how stupid what you used to believe was.

People like she and this Loki were the ones that probably got picked on in youth...but look at them now! Here they were, running the lives of the people that used to bully them while the sport people were in manual labor, fast food, or the military if they got lucky. Life was interesting!
Darcy found herself smiling, amused by her own thoughts and the strange fact that a book collection had her almost emphasizing with the jerk that owned the office.

"I gather you are a reader like myself, Ms. Lewis?"

Darcy jumped, only just swallowing a gasp as she whirled on the toes of her shoes to face the door. Her heart was doing some impressive acrobatics in her chest; she could thank her rare bouts of luck he caught her here and not at his desk; his arrival terrifying her even though she was doing something perfectly lawful. She honestly had not heard him open that door!

"How was dinner?" She blurted out, trying to hide her speeding pulse behind an indifferent face, ignoring his question.

He looked at her blankly but suddenly seemed to remember what he said to her before and nodded - she was so right, he did not step out for food - going along with her, "I changed my mind, the menu did not fit my mood."

She nodded, looking down at the dark carpet, her hair falling like a curtain to hide her face for a calming few second before she looked up again.
Time to go back to the torture couch, she thought with displeasure. They wordlessl returned to the places they had been at all day. The chatter already over.

Darcy spent half an hour finishing formatting her suggestions and findings to Stark in a more condensed version, giving him a full update including a list of those companies in correspondence with Loki. After working ideas up in her head all day she was sure her counter offer was near bullet proof, or she hoped so, but Stark could make any changes he desired. It was a long message and longer file that he was sure to call a book later but from that he would be able to confirm or deny her ideas. Once he altered the counter offer she could finally call it a night and leave ... ready to come back tomorrow for the torture, she would see Stark, but he had the bulk of the issues in hand now to make his choices, the first of many. People like this never went down easy, they haggled back and forth endlessly in any deal.

Darcy arched her back, discreetly trying to stretch without being obvious while she waited on her employer to send her his proposal. The message sign lit up not moments later, much too soon for even that man to finish a counter offer even with all her work, unless he changed nothing at all, so she frowned at her screen before opening it.

Her expression darkened considerably but she collected herself quickly in case her office-mate looked over. Stark really did have it out for her!

He responded in nearly a one word answer and an order to bring the documents to his office. She hated it when he hardly made an effort to seem interested or listen to anything she said. He had no intention of giving Loki an answer by or before seven, it looked like, yet he told her to comply with the enemy anyway. He could have told her that to start with! It would have been nice to know Stark planned to play rough before she spent all day trying to finish this in the cave of the devil!

What was he playing at? He must have been enjoying forcing her to stay here when he knew he never planned to give Loki an answer when he wanted it. Give him anything he wants, comply ... right!

"I will need to confer with Stark personally this evening to give you a more conducive response, but," She stood up, papers gathered once again into a neat stack, and walked to his desk. "for now, my hand written notes will have to suffice. They will give you a fair idea what we propose."

His green eyes narrowed as he took the carefully torn out legal pad pages from her outstretched hand, "Just your notes?"

"As I said, I will be going to Stark industry from here to speak with the others before I can give you a final word tomorrow morning."

"Unprofessional, giving me hand written scribbles. I take it you are woefully unprepared for this task or you're too inexperienced. I already asked you for the counter offer before the end of the day, to which you agreed. If you could not do it and were not up to it you should have said so." He meet her eyes with a challenge.

Darcy wanted to give him a slap-or maybe a slap for him and a slap for Stark- but she smiled instead, "I wrote as clearly as possible. I will have the official counter to you this evening if you feel waiting until tomorrow is detrimental."

"We agreed on today, before you left my office, in fact. Stark could send it to my secretary before you leave." He arched a delicate brow at her, "Why did Stark suddenly change his mind? Did you not inform him of my condition?"

These two were playing company tug-of-war and they had made her the rope, "You would have to ask him but I'm sure it is not going to delay you in any way." She should have just walked out with her notes without a word rather than trying to be nice!

"I'm asking you, why did you agree to my terms when you did not plan to comply? Are you brazen or incompetent?"

Everything in her wanted to jump over that desk and lash out but she ignored the desire, "I will forward the documents to you after they are finalized. Have a good evening, Mr. Odinson."

Her reputation was taking hits already and it was only the first day! She did the singular thing she could do other than cry and simply walked out with her briefcase in hand and chin up.

Her heels clicked down the hall as she tried not to break into a dead run, tried to look composed and professional as she left.
Stark was her client so she could not pin this on him, thus could not defend herself for ignoring the terms set before her. It did not matter to either Stark or Loki what became of her after this deal. What worried her was that Loki would have no compunction about ruining her reputation and it was only going to get worse from here.

They were going to be the death of her!