Loki brushed at the lint on his shoulder, taking in his surroundings. This world, Midgard…he couldn't quite believe it. Of all the worlds in all the realms, he found his woman here. Darcy… It had been too long since he'd seen her. Seven months, in Midgardian time. On Asgard, that was a blink. The different passages of time would take Darcy some time to get used to when he brought her to Asgard, but Loki had no doubt that she could adapt. His clever, clever girl. Loki took a deep breath and stepped out of the supply closet he had appeared in. He was somewhere in SHIELD headquarters. Someone here was bound to know where Darcy was. He walked down the hall, cloak swishing behind him. He stopped the first person he saw, a woman in a pencil skirt carrying a stack of file folders,
"Darcy Lewis. Do you happen to know where she is?" That had been his first mistake when he'd come to Midgard his first time. He had thought he could order these people about. They required a slightly more delicate hand. Flattery, manners, that was the way to get things on this planet. Orders phrased as questions were the most direct yet well-received method of questioning utilized. The woman looked at him. Her eyes widened,
"No! No, I have no idea where she is." Her eyes darted back and forth, looking for an escape route. Loki, God of Lies, knew when someone was lying. And this woman did it poorly. He frowned,
"Are you sure?"
"Yes! Yes, absolutely—"
"Because I think you're lying. And I don't like being lied to." Loki leaned in, invading her personal space until he was almost whispering in her ear, "Do you know what happens to people who lie to me?"
"She's in the basement." said the woman, shaking with fear. Loki pulled back and dipped his head,
"You have my thanks. Tell no one you've seen me." He waved his hand over the woman's eyes. They closed and by the time she blinked, Loki was gone.
The basement, as it turned out, was a laboratory. A relatively deserted laboratory, for which he was thankful. Granted, it was almost eleven at night, but he knew scientists weren't known for keeping normal sleeping patterns. A few computers hummed and it was only when he heard the slight rustling of papers that he knew where his girl was. Loki rounded the corner, then stopped dead. Darcy sat in her chair, her gaze fixed on her computer and glasses reflecting the bright screen. Her long dark hair was pulled up in a haphazard bun, but was not what drew his eyes. No, it was the tell-tale bump of her belly, almost to her knees. Even as he watched, one of her hands came off the desk to rub at the side of her belly. Loki let out a breath like he'd been punched and put his hand on the desk for support. Darcy looked over and her jaw dropped,
"Oh God. Loki! Um…" she looked down at what used to be her lap, "hi?" Darcy turned her chair and rocked back, using her momentum when she went forward to stand up. She pressed a hand at her back with a wince. She took a step toward him and Loki put up a hand to stop her,
"Is it mine?" he asked in a rough whisper. How could he not know this? Granted, Loki hadn't talked to anyone that would have known but surely, surely his magic would have somehow sensed that this had happened. Darcy nodded at him, tears budding in her eyes. Her hands came to clasp each other beneath her bump,
"Twins."
"Twins." Loki felt the air rush out of him again. He had…there were…twins. He stumbled backward and this time Darcy ignored his hand and went toward him, grabbing his hand and pulling him back to his feet. He almost overbalanced and his hand ended up on her belly. Now his magic could sense it. Two tiny, fragile lives beneath his hand. He felt a nudge and Darcy giggled slightly,
"Stop that, you. He might be six kinds of crazy, but he's your daddy, so behave." she spoke to her belly. Loki couldn't believe his eyes. He was going to be a father. And fairly soon, by the looks of it.
"H-how far along are you?" he asked.
"Seven months." replied Darcy. She straightened up as best she could and looked Loki in the eye, "So, now is about the time you utterly freak out. You know, past speechless and more words-kids-under-16-shouldn't-know." Her hands went to her hips as she waited for something, anything. Loki nodded and stood up straight, clearing his throat. He opened his mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again, and closed it. Darcy laughed, "Yeah, it's a lot to take in," She looked down at her belly, then back up at Loki, all traces of mirth gone from her eyes, "No one knows you're the father. Not Jane, not Thor, although I think he got a little suspicious when my teeth started chattering, but he doesn't know for sure. You don't have to be involved, although if you have some kind of warming spell, that'd be great. These guys aren't so great with the Jotunn vs. human body temp." Loki absentmindedly waved his hand and a warm air descended on Darcy. Muscles Darcy didn't know were tense relaxed and she sighed happily, "That's better."
"What do I do?" asked Loki in a hoarse voice. He sank onto the two squares inches of desk not covered with paper and Darcy sat back in her chair. She wheeled over until she could have reached up and touched his face,
"You get your wits back together, tell your brother you're alive, and go back to Asgard." she said. Loki's eyes snapped to look at her,
"What?" he asked. Darcy shrugged,
"Look, I never expected you back and you didn't expect this. I have everything I need and frankly, I think your next few centuries might be a bit busy. You don't have time for this and I don't need you for this. If you leave now, we can part as friends and no one ever has to know that you had a hand in these two." said Darcy. Loki had turned away early in her explanation, unable to believe his ears. She didn't want him? He knew she didn't need him, that was why he had liked in her in the first place, but not want him? He narrowed his eyes at her,
"You won't keep me from my children. There are things they need to know, things only I can tell them." he said. Darcy's lips thinned and she rolled her chair away, crossing her arms on top of her belly,
"I don't know. I never knew my parents and I turned out just fine."
"You love an alien who tried two different times to rule your world. Some would say that you definition of 'fine' is a tad off."
"Shut up. I don't need you in my life and my children don't need you either."
"Our children will eventually ask after their father, and what will you tell them?" His voice grew louder. Why couldn't she see that he wanted to be there for her, needed to be there?
"That he died, which is what he's going to do if he doesn't leave now." said Darcy, standing with some difficulty and reaching into her purse, pulling out her taser. Loki eyed the deceptively small weapon warily. He'd heard tales of what it did to Thor. Darcy pointed it at him, "You need to go."
"No," he crossed his arms, "I'm going to stay right here until you tell me why I need to leave. Not so long ago, you said you loved me."
"If you recall, we'd just had amazing sex. Any 'I love you's post-sex don't count."
"And what about the one after that?" asked Loki. He knew she remembered from the way Darcy bit her lip. That time, the very last time he'd heard her say it, he'd saved her life. Darcy shook her head,
"Adrenaline rush. Doesn't count either. Leave, or I'll call security." she threatened. Loki scoffed,
"As if they could do anything."
"I'll call Thor." she said quietly. Loki narrowed his eyes,
"You wouldn't. That oaf couldn't handle a cell phone anyway." Darcy reached back into her purse and pulled out her phone, thumb hovering over her speed dial,
"He can't. Jane can. Now leave."
"Darcy?" The fighting couple turned at the sound of the new voice. Bruce Banner had entered the lab, his clothes perpetually rumpled and a cup of coffee in his hand. Bruce saw Loki and the cup dropped, smashing on the ground and coffee spilling across the floor. Loki held up his hands,
"Banner. I'm not a threat. Don't—"
"What, Hulk-out?" bit out the scientist. The decidedly green tinge to his skin didn't exactly inspire confidence. Darcy waved at Bruce from behind Loki,
"Hey Jolly Green! Would you do me a favor and remove Loki? Not smash him to Hell, just, you know, remove." she said with a smile. Bruce smiled back and the tinge receded once he realized that she was unharmed,
"Sure." He walked forward and put a hand on Loki's shoulder, dragging him out. For such an un-Hulked man, he was surprisingly strong. Loki didn't fight too hard though. Now was not the time to fight with Darcy. He would wait. She would forgive him his transgressions eventually. Hopefully.
One month later and Loki was still unforgiven. Darcy had gone on maternity leave soon after his appearance and someone, either Jane or Thor, had helped her to ward her apartment, preventing his access. Bruce had apparently volunteered to do her shopping because Darcy always had him with she left her apartment. As Loki had watched her and waited to talk to her, he had watched her belly grow and grow. Each time he saw it, no matter his distress, he still felt that stab of pride. He had done that. Darcy was quite obviously claimed, and she was claimed as his. Not that he'd ever tell her that. He was looking to get into her good graces, not further out of them.
Finally, one month and a week after had last talked to her, Loki saw his chance. Darcy left her apartment on her own, purse over one arm and a giant scarf wrapped her neck against the cold New York weather. Loki ran across the street to her, feeling that might be slightly less alarming to her than suddenly appearing by her side. After all, a quick internet search proved that twins were often born early and she could go into labor any day. The last thing he wanted to do was surprise her. He was a few feet behind her when he called out,
"Darcy!" She turned to Loki and walked forward,
"What? Why are you still here? I let you off the hook! Go blow shit up or something." She had a vague gestured that Loki supposed was intentioned to demonstrate blowing things up.
"I've been waiting to talk to you."
"What, since that night in the lab?" Darcy said with scoff. Loki sighed,
"Yes." Darcy's jaw dropped. Evidently, that was not what she had been expecting.
"Oh. Wow."
"I wanted to talk about why you want me gone."
"Because I don't need you, that's why I want you gone."
"I know you don't need me. But do you want me?" he asked, stepping close until her belly was the only thing keeping them separated. Darcy looked down until Loki reached forward and gently tilted her head up to him. There were tears in her eyes,
"I shouldn't."
"And I shouldn't want you. But I do. Do you want me?" he said, holding Darcy's hand tight enough to communicate his sincerity but not tight enough to hurt. In the midst of her brain shutting down, somehow that grip was what registered with Darcy. It was careful, tentative. So much different than he'd been eight months ago. Before he'd been tough, jagged edges around her. Darcy had no illusions that all of his jagged edges had been smoothed simply by the fact of her pregnancy. They still had to be there. But that touch, careful like she was cracked and about to break, that touch was the thing that truly made Darcy realize the difference. Loki, God of Lies and Mischief, meant every word he said. Darcy sighed, a deep shuddering half-sob that seemed to shake loose something in her, softening whatever part of her that had become brittle since Loki left. She leaned her head into his shoulder and said quietly,
"Yes."
"What?" asked Loki in a breath, disbelieving what he heard. Darcy still couldn't quite meet his eyes as she said a little louder,
"Yes. I need you." Loki could only blink at her for a moment, then slowly leaned down to Darcy, giving her plenty of time to move if she wanted. When she merely tilted her head upward, Loki gently kissed her. It was a quick peck, a pause, then their lips met again, Loki sucking slightly on her lower lip. Darcy hummed happily. She pulled back for air with a soft, satisfied sigh, smiling up at Loki through now-dry eyes.
"I love you." she whispered. He smiled at her,
"I love you too." Loki pulled her in for a tight hug and Darcy hugged back even tighter. They stood like that for a moment, a godly alien and a Poli-Sci grad in the middle of New York City, and simply held each other close. After a moment, Loki turned his head and said into Darcy's hair,
"Did that one count?"
"Of course it did, idiot." said Darcy with a laugh, smacking his arm. Loki laughed and Darcy felt the vibrations in his chest. It made her hold him tighter. After eight months, the one that counted was back and she was never going to let him go.