Finally Darcy got back to her apartment after her long day at work at the SHIELD headquarters. She slammed the door behind her and slowly dragged her bag across the floor. Sighing she flopped down onto the large corner sofa.

"Loki! Are you here?" She yelled.

No answer, he must have retreated into his lair or something.

Slowly, Darcy sat up and ran her hands through her thick curly hair and pushed her glasses up to rest on the top of her head. She really did love her job, after years of following Jane around she was given the opportunity to help SHIELD "broaden their ties with Asgard". She wasn't sure what that meant at first, but hey the pay was good so there was nothing to lose right? Wrong, the last thing she was expecting was to end up with the God of Mischief being ordered back to Earth by Odin to be put under the protection of SHIELD. SHIELD apparently meaning Darcy. He was confined to her small apartment on the outskirts of the city, being isolated couldn't be very good for anyone's mental state, let alone the immortal Norse God of mischief. Naturally she was expecting him to be a little… cranky shall we say? But he was the God of all complete assholes. However over time, to the displeasure of SHIELD, Loki started to open up to Darcy, they became friends, and then something more, Darcy didn't know what that something was any more but she didn't mind, she preferred it this way. The term boyfriend and girlfriend seems so childish, and partners sounds so old fashioned, so they are just… something. Which brought Darcy thinking straight back to the present.

"Where the bloody hell has he disappeared to?" She huffed, standing up. She walked out of the room and poked her head into the bedroom and bathroom, searching for Loki. Still not finding him, she headed back outside into the yard.

"Loki there you are" she smiled.

He slowly turned towards her from his hiding place behind the big tree at the rear of the yard. He opened his arms and she moved forwards to embrace him.

But she stumbled straight through him. Stupid Holograms.

Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind, she spun around in the embrace and was met with a startling green pair of eyes gazing straight at her. She glowered at him before she stood up on her tiptoes and met his lips with hers, she felt him grin beneath their kiss as he lifted her up to help her reach him.

"How was work today love?" asked Loki, slowly lowering her to the ground.

"Fine, my day pretty much consisted of too many coffee breaks and crappy food from the vending machines" She said sleepily, leaning onto Loki slightly for support. Her eyes flickered closed and she let out a long content sigh as she pressed herself onto his chest.

She felt him chuckle slightly beneath her.

"Let's go inside love, you look exhausted"

He gently took her hand and led her back into the house, she stumbled slightly over the step but Loki kept a tight grip on her. He tried to pull her towards the bedroom but Darcy started to head towards the couch.

"Can we just stay here, that bedroom gets so stuffy when it's hot, I can't sleep in there"

"Of course love, wait here a minute"

Loki disappeared into the back of the house and re-appeared with his arms full of blankets and pillows.

"Loki!" Darcy laughed "It's like 100 degrees outside!"

"Oh…" Replied Loki looking a little lost.

"Come on it doesn't matter" She said taking the blankets off him and laying them onto the couch, she sat down and reached for his hands to pull him towards her. He laid down on top of the blanket pulled him down with her, throwing one arm around her waist and burying his face into her hair.

"Sleep love" He said, leaning over and kissing her cheek.

She slowly started to drift off in his arms, snuggling closer into his chest.

Darcy awoke a couple of hours later. She looked around blearily for the source of disruption that disturbed her sleep. Slowly feeling around for her glasses she realized they must have fallen off on the clumsy journey back indoors earlier. She felt movement behind her so she turned around to see Loki muttering with an agitated look on his face, he was starting to thrash around in his sleep. She caught a few muttered words about Asgard, Thor and a Bridge. It was enough to convince Darcy he was having another nightmare about him falling off the rainbow bridge, and that he needed to be woken up. She completely turned over as Loki started to thrash around more.

"Loki" She said sharply. But the words had no effect.

"Loki!" She said louder, she reached out for his face and tried to catch one of his flailing arms.

Suddenly his eyes snapped open and he grabbed her wrists, flipping them over so they both tumbled off the couch. Darcy smacked her head on the coffee table and slowly winced as she felt warmth flood on the back of her head. He was straddling her waist, staring at her with a mad gleam in his eyes. She felt a hand close around her throat as she tried to sit up.

"Loki!" She choked as she looked up at him.

She slowly started to panic as she felt the hand around her throat squeeze tighter. She knew she was starting to have a panic attack, but she couldn't get the air in that would fuel her anxiety. She started to get black dots in her vision. She desperately clawed at the hands pressed around her neck, she couldn't speak to make Loki see reason. She could feel herself slowly losing consciousness.

And suddenly all the pressure was gone.

Darcy immediately started gasping for air, she turned over to her side and started retching, she couldn't get the air in fast enough. Slowly her breathing was getting easier, painful but definitely easier. She turned back over to meet the face of the one who almost killed her. And she was met with a look that almost broke her heart. He looked so desperate, his face was as white as a sheet, there were tears streaming down his face, but it was his eyes that almost broke Darcy. Loki looked completely and utterly distraught.

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but closed it straight away. The tears carried on falling from his face. He didn't seem to want to touch her, as if he was scared of breaking her. Darcy reached out for his wrist, she felt his fast panicked pulse beating under his skin, mimicking her own. Her touch seemed to awaken him from his shock. She immediately felt his breathing start to change as he leant towards her, he cautiously brought her into his arms.

"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry" He started to gasp into her hair.

She started to feel her own tears leak from her eyes as he let go of her and immediately started checking her for any more injuries he had given her. She brought her hand to the back of her head, and pulled it away quickly feeling something sticky there, she looked up at Loki in panic and he immediately turned his attention to her head. He placed a cool hand on her head and Darcy slowly felt the cool relief of his magic rushing through the gash. He then turned his attention to her neck, when dark bruised were already starting to show. He gently touched her neck, closing his eyes when Darcy flinched slightly, and he sent another wave of magic rushing towards her. He opened his eyes to see Darcy much closer to him, she lunged towards him and pressed her lips forcibly against his, he caught her before she toppled onto him, and moved one of his hands up her hips, bunching up her shirt in the process. She pressed her hands to his face as he kissed her, he felt her pull away when she realized she had left a bloody hand print on his cheek.

"It's ok" He whispered.

With his hand braced on her bare waist, he pulled her against him and just held her.

"I love you" he said.

"I love you too" Darcy replied sleepily.