And the heart is hard to translate

by EC

In the end it's not about making a decision, because the decision has already been made for her. Darcy just needs her head and her heart to catch up with this fact. Set post-Avengers

It all starts in the middle of the afternoon in the middle of a boring week when Jane's rather shrill and loud shriek interrupts that boredom. Darcy, of course, reaches instantly for her trusty taser but sets it down when Jane starts rambling about some amazing, last minute, all expenses paid trip to some place she's never even heard of. She's looking forward to some quality alone time when Jane starts in about the trip including her. Darcy opens her mouth to protest but closes it when Jane reminds her of the utter lack of Erik (and her excuse to stay put). With that quality alone time out of the picture now, Darcy puts her effort into trying to make the most out of this, even though she still has no idea where they're going, or what she'll do there. The name sounds incredibly foreign (and even a little boring)- do they even have Poptarts there? How will Jane cope? And does Jane have any idea just how damn expensive international data rates are? Oh, the horror of no Twitter or Facebook on her phone!

Jane shoots her a look that reminds her far too much of her mother and tells her to start packing, and to make sure to pack warm.

Oh, joy! So wherever they are going is foreign, boring and cold.

Jane (conveniently) forgets to mention just how long it's going to take to get there, which is the start of what Darcy comes to call the Travelling Day of Hell. Dramatic, yes, but for someone whose international travelling experience only consists of a few trips to Mexico, it really is that awful.

The Travelling Day of Hell starts with an hour drive from the lab to the airport in Albuquerque. From there they have a three and a half hour flight to Dulles Airport in Washington D.C. Then a ninety minute layover, which really isn't nearly enough time to do much of anything but sit and enjoy her final moments of unlimited 3G data. Next it's an eight hour (eight hours? seriously?) flight from Dulles to Frankfurt, Germany. She plans on just sleeping the entire way, but they're in first class and she's never flown first class before (and likely never will again) so for the first few hours she plays around with all the various controls of her seat (which is more like a mostly private cubby-like thing) and pesters Jane to take about a dozen pictures of her which she uploads to Facebook thanks to the in-flight WiFi (which she has to pay for, but she keeps her receipt because she's totally writing it off as a 'business expense'). Dinner comes on real china with real silverware (and the most adorable mini-salt and pepper shakers which totally, accidentally, find their way into her purse) and she flips through the different movies as she eats.

They're somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean (she knows this thanks to the nifty little map on her screen) when she finally dozes off, not waking up until they're about to land in Germany. Half-asleep still, she feel a sense of relief that they're finally here until she remembers that they still have two more flights to go.

That realization puts her in a pretty foul mood and it's nothing short of a miracle that she makes it through customs without cracking any entirely inappropriate Hitler jokes. They have two hours to kill this time, and while she wants to sleep she tries her best to stay awake because they (whose they?) say that the best way to avoid jet lag is to go to bed when it's time to go to bed wherever you are. Well, the day for them started at eight in the morning (Jane dragged her out of bed to make sure everything was ready) and now it was a little past ten in the morning the next day. But her body still thinks that it's back in the states, so to her it feels more like just a little past three in the morning.

Darcy decides that 'they' can go screw themselves, because she's going to sleep because a tired Darcy is a cranky Darcy and she can't deal with Jane when she's cranky.

So she sleeps on the next two flights, which are much shorter than the previous two flights, and is only slightly cranky when they finally (finally!) arrive at their final destination.

It takes her a full two days to fully adjust to the time difference, and another to remember the name of the city (Tromso). The observatory is actually pretty damn cool and she always gets a kick out of seeing Jane geek-out over things. They have their own rooms, free meals and, the most important thing (to Darcy, at least); their own computers. Computers that come with internet (sweet, blissful high speed internet!). Darcy has to change a few settings around to get things to point to the English versions of Facebook and Google and her other frequently visited sites, but she feels much better knowing that she can still stay in touch with the rest of the world.

For a city on an island in the freakin' Arctic Circle, Tromso is really not all that bad. Sure, it's cold (she's glad she listened to Jane's advice on what to pack) with highs barely hitting the 50's during the day (one day it hits 63 and the locals can't stop talking about how this year's fall is unseasonably warm). At night it's even colder, but a little sacrifice of the warmth is totally worth it because the Northern Lights are amazing. (Aurora Borealis, Jane insists, but Darcy thinks that sounds too much like a stripper name).

But all the shiny lights (and a pretty decent pub scene) aren't enough to distract Darcy from the mystery of why they're even here in the first place. She knows it isn't thanks to some grant, because she's in charge of submitting those applications. Jane is vague in her responses and far too busy with all of The Science! to buy into any of Darcy's conspiracy theories. Darcy, of course, keeps herself busy on all the blogs and message boards and after reading about an entire research facility just vanishing and a showdown between Captain America (he exists?), Iron Man and a guy who sounds like he was from Thor's neck of the woods based on his description, she gets a pretty good feeling that Some Very Serious Shit With A Capital S is going down.

That hunch becomes truth when her usual evening of watching American sitcoms dubbed in Norwegian is interrupted by breaking news.

New York City is under attack.

Between the two of them they can understand about a dozen or so words in Norwegian, but the images on the screen are more than enough to get the point across. The Very Serious Shit With A Capital S looks, well, very serious. Massive destruction, loss of life, and aliens. Not, like, illegal immigrants, but honest to goodness, from another planet, aliens.

That night is even longer than the Travelling Day of Hell, but thanks to the wonders of coffee and sugar they stay awake to watch it all. The other observatory works join in their vigil, and when the good guys save the day, they all cheer and jump and hug (there's even some kissing, which she totally doesn't mind because they're all pretty hot).

The news switches focus to the as of yet unidentified team of heroes, so they quiet down to learn more about who has just saved their collective asses. There's a name- Avengers - and Darcy instantly recognizes it from her various blog reading and feels a small sense of triumph at knowing that not all of the conspiracy theories were utter bullshit.

Iron Man is the easiest to spot, and the most logical person to be a part of something like this. There's also Captain America, and she has to laugh because who knew that the guy actually exists? The big green dude is given a name- Hulk - which is totally fitting. There are two others that remain nameless; a fierce looking redhead with an amazing rack (what? nothing wrong with appreciating another female's assets) and a guy with a wicked looking bow and arrow that also looks suspiciously like one of the Jack Booted Thugs who helped return all of their lab equipment.

And then, just like the romance novel cover model he resembles, Thor is there in all his Asgardian godly glory.

Jane, understandably, is pretty upset that her Asgardian boyfriend is back without contacting her and lets out a few choice (and very un-Jane like) words, which pretty much signals the end of their little impromptu party. She plays the sympathetic part well, adding her own flavor of words and really, it's not too much of an act because Darcy is pretty upset too. But mostly over the fact that they weren't in NYC, because, dude, aliens. She keeps this bit to herself to avoid the Look of Death from Jane and even refrains from making a post about missing out on the aliens on Facebook because something like that is totally in bad taste. People have lost their lives and New York is in ruins, so her mood becomes somber. That, and she's really, really tired.

After breakfast and a hot shower (and more coffee) they manage to get a call through to Erik on the first try. They put him on speaker so they can both listen to his (slightly condensed and maybe even heavily edited) version of just what the hell happened. There's something about Loki (God of Mischief and Lies and Trickery and whatnot, also Thor's brother) and the Glowy Cube of Destiny (the Tesseract- the thing Erik had been studying for SHIELD) and how it opened a portal into another dimension.

So not only has she missed out on aliens, she missed out on aliens from another dimension.

Erik only briefly touches on the part about him being turned into a zombie (her words, not his) and no, he doesn't know exactly how Thor came back (Jane only asks like, a million times) but he does know that he and Loki used the Tesseract (GCoD) to return to Asgard. They let him go because he obviously has a lot on his plate right now. Jane leaves the room to like, listen to Adele or something and cry about how Thor is gone. Again. And Darcy, while she should sleep, goes straight to the computer to check Facebook and all the other social media platforms to get the unedited stories. She must fall asleep somewhere between the Twitterverse and Tumblr, because the next thing she knows there's a very determined looking Jane hovering over her with a phone in her hand.

Their first twenty attempts to get through to someone at SHIELD are epic failures.

Then Darcy gives it a try and doesn't give up, even through about three dozen transfers and almost and two hours of waiting. She really lays on the Darcy Lewis Charm (or lack thereof) and finally someone who calls himself Director Fury (for some reason she pictures Samuel L. Jackson on the other end of the line) answers. He's not saying much, which she knows is par for the course for Secret Government Agency types, but does at least greet them (he knows he's on speaker phone). The fact that he knows that, and knows who she is without asking (and without her giving her name) is just slightly unsettling. But all the creepy stalker vibes are gone when he mentions the words private jet and New York City.

Seems that SHIELD, contrary to what their phone etiquette may say, spares no time in getting them back over to the states. No sooner that the call ends are they getting another, this one confirming a car coming to pick them up in just over an hour. They're also told that there's no need to worry about any of the equipment, as it's 'being handled' as they speak. She's not sure if she should be impressed or feel creeped out (again) by SHIELD's efficiency.

She has no idea who she has to thank, but the trip back involves fewer stops. There's just a quick one in Germany to refuel, and then they're off to New York. It helps that they're not flying all the way back to Albuquerque.

The Big Apple is more like the Big Apple Sauce (she thinks it's pretty funny, but apparently everything is pretty damn funny when you're completely jet lagged) when they arrive, but New Yorkers had lived through a devastating attack before and life was going on as normally as possible while everyone was working to put the city back together again. There's really no time for sightseeing though, because as soon as their plane lands they're whisked off to Stark Tower.

Despite the damage it still really is a Shining Beacon of Hope for all Humanity (she'd read the press release) and she's itching to check out some of the tech the second they step foot into the lobby. Director Fury (he does look an awful lot like Samuel L. Jackson and she has to resist the overwhelming urge to crank out that infamous line from Snakes on a Plane) and Agent Coulson (the iPod thief- Darcy wants to say something, but keeps quiet because the guy looks like he's been through hell) introduce themselves and escort the two of them into the elevator. On the ride up to the twentieth floor, Coulson (iPod thief!) explains that Stark Tower has become the unofficial headquarters for the Avengers Initiative.

At their twin blank looks Coulson goes into another brief explanation about the Avengers (all the Good Guys they saw on tv saving the city) and how, while technically a branch of SHIELD, operating out of Stark Tower was the most practical option. There were apartments, offices, labs (Jane gets a little drooly at this), a medical wing, gyms, shooting ranges and a fully staffed kitchen. Everything a superhero could ever want, all with a convenient midtown location.

They still have yet to cover the basics of why they're here at all when they enter a Very Serious Looking Boardroom for what Darcy knows will be a Very Serious Conversation.

What it basically boils down to is this: they're fans of Jane's work and want her to continue her efforts in finding a way to repair or recreate the bifrost. Thor comes in pretty handy in a battle, so obviously having an easier path to earth for him is a priority. They also want to know how to control and, especially, prevent any unwanted travellers from another dimension. Jane is practically bouncing in her seat when they get to the part about the size of her lab and the equipment and the budget and...well, that's where Darcy starts to phase out a bit.

She does, however, perk up when they turn their attention to her because she's pretty damn curious as to how she fits into the equation. She's not a physicist or a superhero and she's still three credits shy of her degree. Basically, she's Just Darcy, and she's half-expecting them to thank her for coming out all this way, but sorry, there's no room for her at the inn.

So she's pretty damn surprised when they offer her a job. It sounds like they had to piece some titles and job descriptions together; when she's not busy helping Coulson out (he really looks like he needs all the help he can get) she's free to help in Jane's lab (she's still the only one who can speak fluent Jane). Part of her has to wonder if they're doing this only because she knows too much, but in the end a job is a job. And it's a pretty damn cool job that comes with a security clearance. Darcy's never had a security clearance before, and she's almost morbidly curious as to just what may have shown up in her background check. Jane starts in with questions about logistics and living expenses (leave it to Jane to be practical) when Fury finally speaks up and casually mentions that all of the lab equipment is on its way from New Mexico. That, and they have rooms in Stark Tower at their disposal.

The Very Serious Conversation slowly winds down and after a metric ton of paperwork (seriously, Darcy has never seen so many forms before) they're free to check out their rooms.

Darcy isn't quite sure what to expect when she opens the door to her place. It's not exactly a luxury penthouse, but it's certainly a far cry from any of the dorm rooms she's ever been in and a hell of alot nicer than anything she can afford in a place like New York City. There's a cozy, yet practical sitting area with a (thank you Tony Stark!) huge flat screen TV. Both the main area and the bedroom have amazing views of the city, and the bathroom has a tub big enough for her to drown in. There's also a small kitchenette at her disposal in case she feels like cooking instead of eating in the dining hall, but since she's only a master of toast and stuff out of a package she knows she'll only use the fridge and the coffee maker.

Life after that becomes a hectic blur of work and sleep and not much else in between. Coulson keeps her busy. Like, really, really busy. So busy that she isn't able to get up to Jane's lab for the first two weeks. When she finally does make it there she's expecting a total melt down, but other than a pile of disorganized notes and an almost DEFCON Level Five shortage of Poptarts, things seem to be going fairly well. Jane and Erik are in their groove, spouting off terms that go way over her head when a new face pops in.

Jane manages to break from her conversation long enough to make introductions, and Dr. Banner (Bruce, he insists) becomes the first Avenger Darcy meets. (Well, second, technically, if you count Thor). Bruce has that whole cute and nerdy thing going for him, and when she can't place his face from all the footage she's seen she asks him what his super secret identity is.

There's a long, awkward pause (and thank goodness that Jane and Erik are off in their own world again) and Bruce gets out an equally awkward explanation about a serum and a gamma radiation accident and the short of it is he turns into the Hulk. Darcy has a hard time picturing the quiet science nerd type becoming a giant green rage monster, but she is friends with a god from another dimension, so who is she to judge?

Meeting the rest of the team takes some time because after, you know, saving the world and all they were given some well needed downtime.

She meets Steve Rogers next, instantly recognizing him from all the Captain America comics and cards and lunchboxes that her grandpa had kept. Steve is sweet and charming and so adorably clueless when it comes to all of her pop culture references. He calls her 'Miss Lewis' and almost seems reluctant to call her 'Darcy' at her insistence. Their first conversation takes place over lunch and when she stares at the massive pile of food on his plate he tells her that it's a result of his super-soldier metabolism. She asks him if he's ever thought about doing an eating competition, and of course that modern day concept is lost on him. When she explains what they are he, politely, declines and says it wouldn't be fair to the others.

Her next encounter is with Clint Barton (Hawkeye, though she instantly forgets making fun of his name at the memory of his mad skills with a bow) when he returns from whatever it is that world class archers do in their spare time. He admits to being one of the Jack Booted Thugs that raided (and then returned) their lab equipment, and also admits to utilizing her iPod. Darcy feels like yelling at him until he compliments her on her music taste and asks for some recommendations. They're bonding over a beer at a bar just a few blocks away from Star Tower when in walks the kickass redhead and Darcy meets her fourth (fifth) Avenger. Clint greets the Blackwidow ('Tasha) with a wide grin and a warm embrace and then the rest of the night becomes a little hazy because there are shots. And more shots. And some rather useful Russian insults. Oh, and more shots.

Somehow she makes it back to her room in one piece, fully clothed, and, if she's lucky, free from any embarrassing antics. The next morning she's in the dining hall, nursing the hangover from hell, when she (finally) meets Tony Stark. How she's gone an entire month living in Stark Tower without meeting him is beyond her. When she says as much he offers up that he's back and forth a lot between here and the west coast or, more often than not, he's in his lab. He easily spots her hangover (obviously from experience) and hands her some sort of concoction that smells worse than it looks, but by some sort of miracle manages to make her feel about a thousand times better in just a few short minutes. Their topic of bonding is of their mutual love for classic cars and when he invites her to check out his collection she may have let out a tiny squeal of joy.

Things get even busier with the whole team back, minus Thor of course, but Jane is working on that. Coulson has Darcy on more tasks (he finally let it slip around week four that he nearly died during the attack) which means less time to see Jane. She's settling in for her own private celebration of surviving three months in New York when she gets a frantic text from Jane and the next thing she knows they're driving an hour outside of the city to an abandoned farm. The rest of the team tags along too, mostly because they're all curious as to what has Jane going all crazy. Darcy knows it's not the bifrost; the whole damn world would know when it was the bifrost.

Jane is rambling on about atmospheric readings and other sciencey terms when a beam of light shoots down from the night sky. It's not exactly like that night in the dessert, but it's close enough and no sciencey terms are needed to spot the hulking form of Thor once the light fades. Jane dashes towards him but halts in her path when she, and everyone else, spots that Thor is not alone. The mystery figure steps forward, and all weapons (yes, including her taser) point towards him.

Loki, the would-be destroyer of earth.

Thor sets his hammer down and holds his hands up in a pleading gesture. Apparently Loki has undergone Asgardian justice (Darcy struggles to picture what that entails) and now he's come back to earth to seek forgiveness for his crimes against humanity.

Loki speaks then. Darcy likes to think she has a pretty decent BS Detector and what he says seems pretty legit, though he is known as a master of lies. But if the guy wants to pull a Darth Vader (you know, minus that whole dying at the end bit) then that was his prerogative and the least they could do is give him a chance. She keeps her opinions to herself (a first, she knows), feeling like her opinions really have no place in the matter and they're pointless anyways because Thor's word goes a long way. Fury and Coulson make a hard sale (she isn't blaming them, since Loki did try to kill them) but once Thor confirms, again, that Loki will return to Asgard at the first sign of any shenanigans (her word, not his) they agree to a probationary period.

And that 'probationary period', Darcy discovers, basically equates to more paperwork for her to file and a lot of closed door meetings. But the meetings free her up to see Jane. Well, she sees Jane when Jane isn't busy with Thor. Which isn't that much. Darcy makes sure to text Jane and remind her that she is, in fact, mortal and still needs to eat. The woman is glowing when they get together for chinese takeout in Darcy's living room and blushes when she asks for all of the juicy details. After much begging she gives in, and Darcy realizes how much she's come to miss this. Just hanging out and talking. No science, no paperwork, no superheroes and no security clearances.

As month five with SHIELD turns to month six, Darcy makes a resolution to go out more often. After all, she is a grown woman (twenty-three isn'tthat young) living in an amazing city with a great job and she deserves to have fun. Dammit. And fun she has, for a few nights at least until there's an incident that involves a drunken frat boy and her taser (he totally had it coming!) and a lecture from Coulson (they have an image to maintain) and then she's more or less stuck in Stark Tower.

Loki is more or less stuck there too.

Darcy knows (because she processed the forms) that he's not confined to a cell, and that he actually has a room on the same floor as her's. She knows that after two months of good behaviour he's been able to prove that his words of repentance are more genuine than not. He's even gone on a few missions with the team, which speaks volumes about his desire to make good given the fact that almost all of them have more than enough motive to seek revenge. He spends equal amounts of time in meetings as he does going off...somewhere. To do something. She doesn't know, and part of her doesn't want to know.

She also knows that he's bad news. She knows this because he's the Bad Boy. And while Bad Boys were fun (she's dated a few) it never ends well and they're never the ones you want to take home to mom and dad. Never mind the fact that her parents still don't know exactly what it is that she does and she'll likely never be able to tell them everything.

So she avoids Loki. But as the laws of nature dictate, the more she avoids him, the more she sees him. When he's not in his Super Secret Meetings or off Who Knows Where, he's in the lab helping Jane and Erik with their research on the Tesseract (Glowy Cube of Destiny). The days he's in the lab are far more entertaining than the days he's not (mostly because Jane gets all huffy whenever he's right about something) and after a couple weeks of that she starts looking forward to his visits.

They never have much in the way of conversation (though he does greet her, always Miss Lewis, which is kinda hot because he sounds sorta British) which was fine with her because, really, what did one talk about with someone who could likely kill you with their mind?

And then, on a fairly dull Wednesday afternoon (Wednesdays always drag on and on), Loki asks her opinion on something.

At first she's not certain that he's actually speaking to her (she's not a god or a world class assassin or a scientist or any other classification that describes the Avengers; she's Just Darcy) and then she's embarrassed because she's sort of staring at him with what she knows is an idiotic look on her face. Loki either doesn't seem to notice, or he's being overtly polite, because he doesn't say something biting. He just waits, patiently, until her brain finally manages to catch up with what he had asked and she manages to get out a response that she at least hopes doesn't make her sound like a complete idiot.

It must satisfy him because he gets that little half-smirk of a smile on his lips and Darcy has to try really, really hard not to keep on staring.

Focusing on work for the rest of the day proves rather difficult and when five o'clock rolls around she practically bolts out of there. And then she runs right smack dab into someone. A tall, lithe someone cloaked in black and green and when she takes a step back and spots Loki she's grateful that nothing happens. She's seen how powerful he is; she knows she's lucky that he didn't transport her to Antarctica or turn her into a frog or something. It takes her a few moments to recover, and during that time Loki apologizes profusely (even though it was totally her fault because she wasn't looking where she was going) and that same half-smirk/half-smile is tugging at his lips and it is so damn sexy.

And since when did she start using Loki and 'sexy' in the same thought? Sure, he's good looking. Okay, so he's hot as hell and totally has that whole bad boy vibe going for him. The leather helps, but she's pretty sure that Loki would look good in anything. Or nothing at all...and that thought
makes her blush, so before she can make a complete and utter fool of herself (because he was a god and she was Just Darcy and so many other reasons as to why that thought was beyond inappropriate) she mutters out a rather lame good bye and rushes off.

Loki's absent for the next week or so, which is fine with her because it gives her time to organize all of her thoughts. Thoughts About Loki are the last thoughts she ever imagines having, but they're there all the same and it's difficult to not feel the need to sort through them all. She even catches herself putting together a whole bunch of hypotheticals which is silly, because hypotheticals are that for a reason and there's no way that the God of Mischief would ever go for a lowly mortal like her. True, he does treat her like more than just a pair of tits that can make coffee, but that's not reason enough to start scribbling Mrs. Darcy Odinson (Laufeyson?) all over her notebooks.

He comes back on a Tuesday from whatever he'd been off doing (she doesn't ask, even though now she wants to know more than she doesn't want to know). Darcy knows he's back because Jane has that annoyed look on her face when she pops up to the lab for the rest of the afternoon. But he's not there, and he wasn't in one of his closed door meetings with Fury and Coulson either. It bothers her, and then she's more bothered because she's bothered to begin with. It takes her an hour of sorting through Jane and Erik's notes to get the nerve up to track him down later, but she won't get that chance because when she heads out on a poptart run for Jane she's kidnapped.

The first time she's kidnapped isn't that bad. Really. They're just a fringe group, they don't even have an official name or organizational structure and they only really take her just to prove that they can. They don't hurt her or ask her questions and they seem to be okay with the fact that she's Just Darcy and not the newest member of the Avengers. Sure, she has a few scrapes and bruises from when they grabbed her (she put up a hell of a fight) and they keep her locked in a room. But there's food (not the greatest, but she did survive on Ramen and Easy Mac for an entire year of college) and a bed and even a toilet hidden behind a privacy curtain.

Darcy knows she's not exactly top priority in the grand scheme of things, so she's not expecting a quick rescue. On day three the boys (seriously- a few look younger than her) are discussing just letting her go while she plays cribbage with two of them when the doors to the warehouse explode and in come the Avengers to save the day!

She's seen the whole hero bit dozens of times before, but it is pretty damn cool to be on the receiving end of things. Even her captors seem a little starstruck and she half expects them to ask Steve for his autograph when he comes over. Darcy knows the scene must look a little odd, what with her just sitting there with cards in her hand (it's her crib and a damn good one too) but Steve says nothing. (Later on, they'll call it Stockholm Syndrome. Which only makes Darcy laugh, because, please. She took intro to psych and she wasn't with them nearly long enough for that to develop and it was really just a case of being bored.)

He just wraps a blanket around her and helps her out to the waiting quinjet and it's there that she first feels a little emotional. It's mostly relief because she was in desperate need of a shower and she knew Jane could only go so long without her. But she also feels a huge sense of, well, belonging and all that other fluffy shit that she's important enough to warrant sending the Avengers out and not just a team of random SHIELD agents. It's the first time in the six months of being in New York for her to feel like that.

It's a feeling she'll hold on to for a long, long time.

Darcy sits through the mandatory debriefing but turns down the optional counseling because she's fine. Really. Okay, so she starts having trouble sleeping at night and maybe she's a little jumpy around strangers and they're verging on a poptart crisis because she's too paranoid to go out to get more.

But she's fine.

Really.

It's not until Clint comes up behind her at lunch and she knocks him out cold with her taser that she realizes how not okay she really is. (When Clint wakes up he's impressed with how fast she reacted. Coulson gives her a lecture about unregistered weapons on SHIELD premises. And Tony just laments over the fact that nobody got it on camera for him to post on YouTube).

So she starts going to the counselor. The sessions help, mostly, but what helps even more are her nightly trips to the roof of Stark Tower. Pepper had a big hand in the rebuilding and part of her design included a nice little meditation garden (because being Tony Stark's assistant was seriously probably one of the highest stress jobs in the world) that nobody ever seems to visit. Darcy's new favorite thing to do was go up there as the sun was setting and watch the city really come alive.

Something is off though, and she immediately spots that someone else is there. At first she's annoyed that someone else is on her roof (technically it was Tony's, but it was really Pepper's) and then surprised to see that the someone in question is Loki.

Neither say anything as she takes a seat on the bench next to him (but not too close) and they settle in to a few minutes of surprisingly comfortable silence before they start talking. About everything. She's shocked at just how knowledgeable he is about pop culture and current (and past) events and she suspects that he's spent a lot more time on Earth than he lets on. He's a huge fan of Shakespeare, loves opera, has an embarrassing soft spot for cheesy horror movies and always gets a kick out of what some of the myths say about him (one day she'll make a list and separate fact from fiction). When they start in on Star Wars and both agree that the prequels would have been a thousand times better if George Lucas had nothing to do with the scripts her geek heart melts.

For a guy who seems to like Earth and everything it has to offer an awful lot she has to wonder why he would lead an alien invasion.

She's not aware of the fact that she actually says that out loud until there's a very not comfortable silence and Loki is staring at her and she knows that she's just crossed some as of yet undefined line and that he'll like, kill her with his brain, or something.

Instead he just sighs and turns to stare out at the lights for a long while, and she can tell he's putting some serious thought into his response because she can see the slight furrow to his brow and his eyes seem twenty shades greener. When he looks back to her she can see it right away- he doesn't know the answer. And he knows that she knows that he doesn't know, and they both seem to be okay with that. The important thing is that he's on their side now (mostly) and he's not, you know, planning another invasion. She tells him this, and because she's Darcy, tosses in a quip about hoping to stay on his good side in case there ever was another invasion. And because she's Darcy, she starts rambling on and on and finally stops when he kisses her.

The kiss is good. Confusing as hell, but good. And while she's wondered (and hoped and dreamed) about kissing Loki, she's still a little surprised that it's actually happening. They barely know each other and have spoken only a few words in passing. But he's kissing her, his lips soft yet controlling against hers, his fingers lacing into her hair. Her hands are all awkward, staying in her lap at first before she moves them to rest on his chest. She strokes her fingers against the smooth leather then moves them up to run through his hair, something she's wanted to do for a while now and she reminds herself to ask him later what conditioner he uses, because damn does he have great hair.

When they finally part she half expects him to deliver the standard 'this was a mistake' line that she's heard too many times for comfort and, honestly, almost wants to hear. Because this is a Mistake with a capital M because he's the God of Mischief and she's Just Darcy and any form of a relationship between them is destined to fail before it even begins. But he doesn't say anything, not a word. He just smiles at her, a softer smile than she's ever seen grace his features before. He cups her cheek, his thumb gently caressing the still healing cut there (she had asked the medics if it would scar, because scars were cool and mysterious and shit). She feels a slight tingling sensation and somehow knows without needing to look that he's just used his magic to heal her.

She goes to thank him, but he stops her by pressing another kiss to her lips before he leaves.

Loki isn't on her (their?) roof every night, but when he does plan on showing up he manages to find some way to let her know (he did send one of his doubles, once, but she told him it was creepy and asked him to stop, even if it was cool as hell). They never seem to run out of things to discuss, which is pretty damn impressive considering it's been just over a month since their first rooftop meeting. And nothing seems to be off topic, though they do have a general ground rule of not bringing up a sensitive subject (her kidnapping, his astounding daddy issues) unless the person with said sensitive subject initiates the conversation.

As month two of Late Nights with Loki (okay, she really needs to come up with a better name because that sounds way too much like some cheesy radio show) comes to a close they're doing less talking and more kissing. They mostly just make out like teenagers, which begs the question- was Loki ever a teenager? She tries to conjure up an image of a younger Loki, then stops because it seems totally inappropriate because his hand has just found its way into her pants.

He gets her off in record time using just his oh so magical (maybe literally?) fingers, not expecting or asking for anything in return. And then the bastard disappears for three weeks, three weeks without so much as a goodbye or a halfway decent breakup note.

She's waiting for him on her (her, not their) roof when he returns, and she knows that he knows he's in trouble because he's keeping his distance. So she starts in on him, raging on about hurt feelings and douchebag behavior and how she knows she's Just Darcy and young and stupid but the least he could have done was tell her he was leaving and how she feels used and more stupid and that this is all a Bad Idea but she doesn't want to stop. She even hits him, a few smacks to his shoulder, and he lets her. No mortal has likely done that before and lived to tell the tale. But he takes the blows and when she's run out of steam and hateful things to say and can feel her eyes get all puffy from unshed tears he takes her by the hand and leads her over to the bench.

They say nothing for a long while as she focuses on taking deep breaths (just like her counselor taught her) to calm herself down. And then they start talking. It's weird to have a Serious Adult Conversation with someone she was so intent on not having said conversation with, but it feels good. They agree that there's definitely something between them, and it's silly to ignore that something. They also agree that it's going to be complicated as hell, but they're willing to try. So, they're together now. Or whatever. She refuses to call him her boyfriend because the word just doesn't fit him, so they settle on her being his and him being hers and while it's a little archaic and a lot possessive, she doesn't mind because it works for them.

And then they have sex. Which, you know, is great. It's a little awkward, and a lot slower than she expects. She wonders if it's been a while for him (she wants to ask, but doesn't) because it's certainly been a while for her and when she gasps when he (finally) enters her he asks about a dozen times if she's okay. Loki being sweet is a new thing, but slow is not at all what she wants at the moment so she practically yells at him to just MOVE DAMMIT! And he does, and it's amazing, and she comes so hard she sees black pulling at the edges of her vision and her hands go numb because all the blood is rushing to her core.

But it's not all about the sex.

Okay, so it is a lot about the sex. Because it's not like they can go out on dates and there's only so much talking you can do.

The sex is fantastic. Loki likes his sex on the hard and slightly dangerous side of the scale, which is fine with Darcy because all her previous encounters always leaned towards the dull and mundane. One guy even insisted on keeping the lights on the entire time. So Loki enjoying tying her up (and her enjoying it as well) is a welcomed change. He's always in control (she tries once, and fails miserably) and if she asks nicely (or begs- he likes it when she begs) he'll wear his helmet. Sometimes even his full leather and metal get up, which is hot as fuck. He never does anything she doesn't want to, and if he leaves any marks he always heals them (the visible ones, at least, as he likes to leave the occasional bite mark on her inner thigh). He also (almost) always stays the night. Waking up with his arm possessively around her is her new favorite thing. Who knew that the God of Mischief was a cuddler?

Darcy is pretty sure that their relationship is going well. But it's not like she can refer to a copy of So You're Dating a Former Supervillain if something comes up. And she can't talk to anybody about it, because they both agreed to keep things quiet. Neither is sure what the others will think (or do) about them. Keeping a secret has never been Darcy's strong suit, but she does her best. Even when people start to comment about how happy she seems or how well Loki is behaving.

Clint is the first to figure it out.

He's all casual about it, dropping an innocent sounding How's Loki? after he invites her out to lunch. Her wide eyes are all the answer he needs to confirm his suspicions. But he promises to stay quiet about it (under threat of her tasing him in the junk and letting Tony film it) and when two weeks pass by with no whisperings of the relationship she finally relaxes.

Of course they'll all find out sooner rather than later, because she's kidnapped. Again.

This time it is bad. Really. They do have a name (HYDRA- seriously, only she would get kidnapped by the baddest of the bad guys) and they are organized. They do care that she's Just Darcy and they didn't take her just to prove that they can, but because they want to use her against Loki. Turns out that HYDRA didn't take too well to news of Loki (their number one pick for a new leader) returning to the Light Side. So taking her is all a part of their plan to get Loki back. This plan consists of luring Loki to their location, then killing her in a most gruesome manner (their words, not hers) in front of him, then Loki will go all batshit crazy or something (her words, not theirs) and wreak havoc and he'll have no choice but to turn his back on the Avengers and take up arms for HYDRA. She knows their plan in full detail because one of their favorite things to do (when they're not coming up with new and inventive ways to hurt her) is to share said plan.

In between bouts of screaming and crying and wishing she would just stay unconscious, she has time to think. And when she thinks, she picks out the flaws in this master plan of theirs, and there are so, so many flaws. For starters, she's not even sure how they know that she and Loki are together at all because it's not exactly something they walk around broadcasting to everyone. She knows Clint isn't the source, because he's the last person who would ever be secretly working for HYDRA. Her only thought is that maybe they somehow got pictures of them up on the rooftop together, but minus that first kiss they had done everything else in private. And she knows for damn sure that HYDRA hasn't breached the security of Stark Tower, because, well, it's Stark Tower and everybody would know if that had happened.

She doesn't bring up that particular flaw though, because she likes living in her bubble where she and Loki are safe and their relationship is a complete and total secret.

There's also the obvious flaw of killing her (which isn't just a flaw because, you know, she greatly prefers living to dying) and Loki just all of a sudden changing his mind. If he really does care about her so much (she thinks he does) why would he ever up and join HYRDA after watching them kill her?

She actually does bring that up in the midst of one of her one-on-one sessions (it sounds better than saying torture). Laughing is so totally the last thing to ever do in a situation like this, but when she sees the look on the guys face as he stops and considers the flaw (he obviously isn't the brightest crayon in the box) she wants to, so badly. It looks like the guy is about to hurt himself from thinking so hard, which obviously pisses him off because then he's hurting her and for once when she passes out she stays out for a good long while.

When she wakes up again (hours or days, she's not sure) the thugs dragging her out of her cell almost seem gleeful, like it's Christmas morning for HYDRA or something. But they're rambling on in German and she only knows a few words so she can't quite figure out what has them in such a good mood. She has a very bad feeling about this though, a feeling that only gets worse when they bring her out to a big room and the Douche In Charge just says it is time. Darcy knows exactly what he means by that, so needless to say she's less than thrilled when they force her into a chair and tie her to it. There's not much opportunity for her to cry or beg or plead or do anything else that she had pictured herself doing, because there's a horrible flash of white-hot pain and when she glances down she can see the blood from the fresh stab wound.

Obviously this was not a part of the plan, because the Idiot who jumped the gun to stab her is now laying on the ground with a bullet in his head.

Darcy, of course, feels no sense of pity for him.

Chaos sort of breaks out then. There's a lot of screaming (almost all in German and she almost wants to ask them to switch to English so she can at least understand what the hell they're saying) and even more pain, because getting stabbed is really, really not pleasant. The blood is staining her clothes far too fast for her liking and she's already starting to feel lightheaded. She doesn't know much beyond her basic CPR and first aid training, but she's donated blood enough times to know that feeling so lightheaded so early is not a good sign. Her mind scrambles back to her high school anatomy class and based on where the blood is coming from she's pretty certain that the Idiot hit her spleen. It's something that definitely requires immediate medical attention, but based on the way they're all freaking out she knows that's not going to happen.

Darcy's never been quite sure of exactly what her beliefs are, but she's spoken (cried, screamed) his name enough over the past few days (hours? weeks? months?) that she hopes God is listening.

In the end it's two gods (not the God) that save her. Well, two gods and the rest of the Avengers. Once again, she's able to witness their Ass Kicking in person, and it seems infinitely more amazing thanks to the blood loss. They're all not wasting any time in taking out the bad guys, each of them seeming to take it rather personally that their favorite assistant has been kidnapped a second time. But Loki, well, Loki just comes straight for her, not even blinking or turning his head as he kills anybody that gets in his way.

She stays conscious just long enough to see the look on everyone's faces as Loki ever so gently and tenderly cuts her free and lifts her into his arms.

Things get pretty hazy from there.

She has a vague recollection of needles poking and prodding, of strained voices almost shouting orders about. There's a lot of pain, too, and a whole metric ton of fear. But there isn't a tunnel or a shining white light at the end of it. Just darkness and a feeling of floating.

When she does wake up, which happens in bouts and spurts and only lasts a few moments before the drugs pull her back under again, Loki is there. It's comforting to see him sitting at her bedside. Sometimes he's holding her hand, his eyes closed and words she can't understand flow from his mouth in a soft murmur. Other times he's asleep, looking completely out of place in the rigid chair. But after awhile she wants to tell him that the constant hovering is bordering on stalker-creeper levels and one day she's finally coherent enough to do so. Her voice sounds awful, like she's suffering from the world's worst hangover after a screaming fight with a yeti and smoking an entire carton of cigarettes.

Loki doesn't seem to mind though, because one of the biggest smiles she's ever seen in her life graces his face when she's able to focus on him.

The others drift in and out over the next few days to visit, all of them expressing their relief that she's doing better. Pepper is thoughtful and asks if Darcy needs any personal items. Tony makes sure she has plenty of movies and music on hand to help pass the time. Steve is super sweet and full of concern and looks like he hasn't slept in a week, but when she comments on this he doesn't say anything. Bruce hovers like a mother hen whenever the doctors are there and double checks everything that's written in her chart. Tasha and Clint come together, Tasha not saying much but Clint brings her in a box of Magnolia cupcakes and a Starbucks. Jane and Thor come together too. Thor stands at the back of the room, as though he's afraid to hurt her by getting too close. And Jane is all weepy and a total mess and hugs her gently and then Darcy is a weepy mess too.

Coulson's visit is a surprise. They have a pretty good boss/employee relationship, but she hardly knows anything about him outside of the workplace. And he's nice to her, and that's when she knows how bad it must have been. He even humors her and tells her (because nobody else would, not even Jane). Apparently her heart stopped three times- twice on the way to the Helicarrier and once while on the operating table. They had to take out her spleen and fix a bunch of other internal damage thanks to her Daily Sessions with HYDRA's finest.

She takes the news in stride (because hey- she's no longer Just Darcy, she's now Just Back From The Dead Darcy), grateful that Coulson is honest and only complains a little about missing out on seeing the Helicarrier. Coulson laughs at this (and it's the first time she's ever seen the man express an emotion other than stoic) and promises her a tour when she's back on her feet.

That whole getting back on her feet thing takes a while. A lot longer than she's happy with, because she can only sit in bed doing nothing for so long before she starts to go a little crazy. She's never been good at staying idle and by the end of almost two weeks in Medical she's afraid that she'll run out of internet soon.

Loki's presence helps though.

A lot.

There are so many things she wants to say to him, but instead she settles for simply finding some sense of comfort in his being there. He doesn't press for details, which she's grateful for because she's not too keen on re-living any of the gorier bits any time soon, and part of her wonders if he read her mind while she was out of it. She's never asked if that's one of his powers, but given everything else he's capable of it wouldn't surprise her. But she does finally ask him one night, about three in the morning when she's woken up and can't get back to sleep. He admits that, yes, he can read minds and that, yes, he did read hers to see what happened.

She knows she should be mad at him and feel some sense of violation, but all she can feel is relief that she doesn't have to give him the play-by-play.

The doctors finally sign off on her release after she's been in medical for a full two weeks (and after Bruce has triple-checked her discharge paperwork and meds). Coulson gives her a few more days after that before he calls her in for the debriefing, and it's probably the briefest debriefing ever. She has to wonder if Loki filled in the rest of the details because the only questions Coulson has deal with the moments leading up to her kidnapping.

This time, Darcy doesn't turn down the optional counselling, but she's pretty sure that they wouldn't have let her do that anyways.

Things return to normal (or as normal as things can get when you work for a government agency and your friends are almost all superheroes) fairly quickly. She's put on light duty, which is ridiculous to her because it doesn't get much lighter than filing paperwork and getting Poptarts for Jane. Turns out that light duty is really just a euphemism for being bored out of your ever loving mind, and after three days of that she's about two seconds away from going postal. Coulson is empathetic after suffering during his own bout of light duty and suggests (politely, though slightly forcefully) that she finally finish her degree.

It's the first time that she's ever been grateful for the sometimes frightening level of SHIELD's connections because less than a week after submitting her application over a month into the fall semester she's once again a college student. She only has three credits left, so she finds a class that's both interesting and relevant to her degree. It's an online class too, which makes life a whole lot easier when she's still recovering and was never too keen on the idea of attending class with a protection detail in the first place.

The semester flies by, something she wishes would have happened during her previous years in college but she has a suspicion that has a lot to do with the fact that she's older, working and not pulling all-nighters or taking tests after doing one too many keg stands. But it's over and done with and after acing her final (was there ever any doubt?) she's Officially Done with college. It's a huge relief to have that checked off of her list of things to accomplish before dying, a list that seems all the more relevant considering she technically had died. Three times.

Loki comes to her graduation ceremony.

Seeing him out and about in the city he nearly destroyed just over a year ago is a little weird, but at least he's wearing fairly nondescript clothes and not going full blown Asgardian God. There are a few sidelong glances and even a handful of doubletakes, but nothing that starts a panic or verges on the territory of something that requires paperwork. If anything, Loki seems a little stir crazy during the speeches and there's even awhine from him about how her last name should start with an 'A' so they can skip the rest of the affair.

After the third boring, meaningless speech full of fluff and false platitudes, Darcy agrees.

Somehow they both survive and return to Stark Tower for the graduation/early-Christmas party Tony (Pepper) threw together at the last second. Darcy's halfway into her third (spiked) eggnog when Jane comes running into the room, face red, chest heaving. Anyone carrying a weapon in the room has a hand moving towards said weapon until Jane catches her breath and manages to string together a sentence. Even then most of it flies over the collective heads of everyone in the room, but thankfully Darcy is fluent in Flustered Jane Foster and she's able to translate for the rest of them.

It's done.

It being the new bifrost, or at least a pretty decent approximation thereof. The damage to the actual bifrost was far too extensive to repair, but Jane and Erik and Jane and Erik's lackeys were able to create a portal of sorts that behaves more or less the same way.

This news, of course, is cause for celebration and how convenient that they're all already a few drinks in? The party rages on into the wee hours of the morning and even Coulson and Fury join in at some point because while such a breakthrough would normally necessitate piles of paperwork (yes, even on a Saturday morning) Darcy, along with everybody else, is given the day off.

But then it's all business on Sunday with said piles of paperwork. There are new protocols to write and file, rules and regulations to be posted, and most importantly the new portal needs to be tested. Loki, obviously, isn't too keen on a return visit to Asgard so Thor volunteers. And because Thor is going, so is Jane. Darcy declines, not just for the Loki's sake, but because she's too busy and wouldn't be able to fully enjoy herself knowing that she would have that much more work to do when she got back.

Loki promises to take her some day, though. And not necessarily to Asgard, but he leaves the promise open to her choice of any of the other realms.

An inter-dimensional date? That pretty much tops the list of most romantic thing ever.

She tells Loki she loves him on a Thursday over Thai leftovers.

When he responds with an I know (she knows he's not being a jackass because Empire Strikes Back is his favorite Star Wars movie) she falls in love with him that much more.

Jane and Thor return about a week later and after Jane is free from the evil clutches of SHIELD Darcy makes sure to get all the details. Asgard, naturally, sounds amazing. She's a little bummed out that she didn't go, but then remembers Loki's promise and doesn't feel so bad anymore. Especially when Jane gets to the parts about meeting Thor's parents and how it sounds like a really awkward time with your potential future in-laws. Of course she's ignoring the fact that they're her potential future in-laws too. Technically. Loki's true parentage and the fact that he's really a blue Frost Giant came out pretty early in their relationship (she's seen his Jotun form a few times and only once made the bad pun about how cool it was) but technicalities aside Odin and Frigga would still be her in-laws.

Darcy isn't sure if she's excited or scared about that.

Or how she feels in the first place about her mind drifting to thoughts of marriage and in-laws and everything else that comes with that whole package. Sure, she and Loki have survived kidnappings and dying and what have you, but she's never quite put much thought into the long term bits of their relationship. And given that he's an immortal god, long term is really long term.

Honestly, she's never thought of that before.

It's a lot to take in, being involved with someone who will long outlive you and doesn't physically age until they choose to age. How will it work when she's gone grey and her boobs are sagging to her knees and Loki still looks the same as he does now? Jane either already has this figured out, or hasn't thought of it yet because the subject is completely skipped while they talk. And Darcy doesn't bring it up with Loki either, because it's bound to make her pretty irrational and emotional and she's had enough weepy moments in the past year to last an entire lifetime.

So she ignores it and internalizes it all and she's had enough counseling sessions and seen enough episodes of Doctor Phil to know that this is probably the last thing she needs to be doing, but she does it anyways. It's a little difficult to hide things from Loki, not just because he can read her mind, but because he's far too perceptive of her moods. And when her moods start to cycle more and more rapidly to the point that others pick up on this, she snaps.

Unfortunately, she snaps at Loki. Coming to grips with your own mortality is hard, okay?

All things considered, the fact that she's in a relationship with the God of Mischief and Lies and other assorted things it's a damn miracle that their first fight doesn't happen until roughly six months of being together. It's certainly a new record for Darcy at any rate, but one of their rules includes not bringing up exes so she avoids pointing this out to him.

The fight itself is pretty ugly. There's a whole lot of yelling and screaming, and she's fairly certain that everyone on the floor has left to give them a wide berth. And instead of standing there and taking it like the last time she yelled at him, Loki is yelling back, all barely controlled rage and seething words. Some pretty hurtful things are said by both of them (and damn Loki for making his insults sound so refined) and when it's over he storms off (well, he sort of poofs! off to who knows where) and Darcy somehow makes it back to her apartment without completely losing it. In fact, she keeps it together for a whole three days before Coulson asks her if she's okay and she breaks down right there in his office.

Phil Coulson? Phenomenal hugger.

So she cries and generally makes a mess of things while he just holds her, and at some point she gets handed off to Thor, who then brings her to Jane. A rapid treatment of ice cream and silly movies is ordered up and after a few pints and some stupid comedies she's feeling slightly more human. It takes her another day to feel fully functional again, and another to convince the team that no, they don't have to hunt down Loki.

Not that they could easily find him anyways.

Even Thor has troubles tracking his erstwhile brother down, and when an entire month goes by with no signs of Loki she starts to worry. When two months have passed and there's still no signs, not even hints of where he could be because of some pranks or unusual events, everyone starts to worry. Thor makes a trip to Asgard to investigate things on that end, but it's not until the end of three months that Loki is seen again.

He literally drops in one night, appearing out of thin air in the lounge, a mess of blood and bruises. And it's not until the moment that she rushes over to his side without even thinking that she realizes she's forgiven him for what he said.

And when he looks at her and she can see the relief in his eyes she knows the same goes for him.

But their happy little reunion comes to an abrupt halt when he breathlessly gets out a warning; the world is going to end.

It's a bit too much like an odd mix of Chicken Little and the Boy Who Cried Wolf for everyone's taste, but the next day when the portal malfunctions and the aliens appear, there's no doubt left in anybody's minds.

Blaming Loki seems like the easiest thing to do but it becomes very clear that, for once, Loki has nothing to do with the aliens from another dimension that have come to destroy the Earth. In fact, nobody knows who to blame, because nobody knows who the aliens are. They have no name for themselves, no demands or declarations. They're just there, and hell bent on causing as much damage as possible with as little effort as needed. It seems they prefer a hands-off method to world destruction; instead of killing all the humans they simply have the humans kill one another. Dozens of wars break out between different nations. Nuclear programs are created, or in some cases reinstated. People kill each other in the streets over bad parking jobs. Entire countries are wiped off the map.

In a word, it's chaos.

And Loki has nothing to do with it. In fact, he's downright upset by it all and tries everything he can to stop it.

Needless to say, the impending destruction of the earth keeps the Avengers rather busy. And the X-Men. And the Fantastic Four. And any other superhero that exists, including some pretty motivated average day citizens who just want to help. This includes Darcy, but Loki has nothing of this, and Coulson (and everybody else) agrees because she's far more useful helping the effort in New York City than off in a war torn country.

But even earth's mightiest heroes (and anyone with a gun that's willing to take out the aliens or any would be terrorists) aren't enough and when Russia and America are in a Mexican Stand-Off (except with nuclear bombs) with Pakistan and South Korea, the world really is going to end.

Take that, Mayans.

Darcy, for what it's worth, is surprisingly calm on the eve of Earth's destruction. She's said her goodbyes to friends and family and random acquaintances and online buddies and even her third grade music teacher Mrs. Hoffman and that bitch Sally Jenkins who stole her boyfriend in kindergarten. The only person she hasn't said goodbye to yet (minus the Avengers, because in her mind they'll never die even though reports of Tony and Steve's deaths came in last week and there were already rumors about Natasha and Clint rolling in) is Jane. But Jane isn't in her room, or the lab, or anywhere else that she expects to find her friend. This is when Darcy first starts to panic, because when this all started a few months ago she and Jane half-joked about a pact to go out all Thelma and Louise style (with minimal fighting over who got to be who) and how is that going to happen if she can't find Jane?

She's standing alone in the portal room when Loki arrives to tell her that Jane is gone.

Her gut reaction is to assume that Jane is dead, which tears at her heart and makes her stomach flip and she can't breathe and it's Loki's hands around her arms that root her to place and keep her from falling into a heap on the floor.

Jane is gone, but not in the way she assumes. Turns out that the aliens have now become a threat to Asgard and the other realms and the only way to ensure their safety is to destroy the portal. Odin himself has declared this, and to her it basically sounds like he's leaving Midgard to its own devices (or as she puts it, fuck them all). Harsh, but true. And while Asgard isn't opening itself to an influx of refugees, Odin was willing to make a few exceptions.

Two, to be exact.

She immediately understands where Jane has gone, and while she's a little upset that Jane would turn her back on everyone, she honestly can't blame her for leaving. Sure, there are a lot of details to work out, like that whole mortality thing (though she does vaguely recall Loki once talking about some sort of apples) but it was a hell of a lot better than dying in a nuclear blast, or dying from the nuclear fall out, or dying from starvation after all the resources were gone.

Darcy's so caught up in her rather morbid thoughts that she totally forgets about the second exception and it's not until Loki looks at her with his hand held out that she puts two and two together.

Oh.

Oh.

So it's come to this. The world is ending, Jane has left, and now Loki is presenting her with that same option. It's a pretty damn big decision to make, especially given the fact that they've barely seen each other since he came back and she's still not exactly sure where they stood. Then again, being told that you're the only other human on earth that Odin is willing to save is a pretty good indication as to the standing of your relationship.

But could she do it?

Yes, going with Loki meant surviving. But it meant leaving all of her friends and everyone she knows behind to die whether it was ten minutes or ten years from now. And while Darcy was a pretty big fan of post-apocalyptic fiction, she's been through enough to know that things are never quite like they seem in books or movies. Still, it presents quite the moral dilemma, something she usually likes to spend a few days mulling over but there's precious little time left to decide. It seems almost insulting to flip a coin, but it's about the only thing she can do and she's frantically digging through her pocket when she realizes that her other hand is already in Loki's.

Well then.

It seems that her brain has already made the decision for her. She blinks a few times though, her eyes shifting to her hand before travelling around the room and stopping for a few moments to watch the destruction and chaos through the window. Loki remains silent and patient throughout this all, not saying or doing anything to sway her opinion though she can see the desperation in his eyes when she settles her gaze back to him. Another beat passes, and then she takes a deep breath, squeezes his hand and closes the distance between them.

"Let's go."