April 22, 12:14am

Darcy had been a big fan of comic books as a kid. Muscular guys in spandex fighting crime were alright in her book. Batman was a hot mess, but he was also indescribably cool. Wonder Woman? Awesome, and Darcy's personal role model. Aquaman? Cool. Superman? The coolest guy in the history of ever.

Darcy loved superheroes, she really did. I had been dream come true to actually meet Captain America. (She'd had to leave the room so she could squeal privately, lest she embarrass him.)

It had never occurred to her to think of superheroes as anything other than awesome. So Darcy had never thought she would ever say what she was about to say.

"Fuck the Avengers, they're all a bunch of idiots."

The room was dim, but not dark. She could see the outline of a person curled up next to the window, looking down over the street below. Even in the middle of the night, there was always something going on in New York, always lights on, always people.

"And what do I owe the pleasure of this... charming visit?"

Darcy shrugged, holding her pillow tight against her chest. "They're all a bunch of idiots." She repeated. "Fuck 'em."

Since Loki had come back, everyone had been on edge. Although Thor had declared that his brother was 'truly a changed man, who only wishes to atone for his past deeds', it apparently took more than that to change the mind of one Tony Stark, billionaire playboy extraordinaire.

"It's a trick!" He'd declared loudly, completely in earshot of both Asgardians. Harsh, man. "We can't trust Loki, look what he's done!"

And, well, yes, Loki had done some terrible awful no good very bad things two years ago. Darcy's only personal brush with him had been through a giant scary fire-bomb shooting robot. He'd tried to kill his brother, destroyed half the town and given Darcy nightmares for weeks. He'd also killed a great deal of people, including Agent Coulson.

Two years ago, Loki had been beaten and taken back to Asgard to 'face Asgardian justice'. And, whatever went on in Asgard jail had changed him, or so Loki said. He wanted to repent his actions, to make up for the pain he had caused in his rampage.

And no one believed him. No one he wasn't related to, anyway. Technically, The Avengers were under orders to watch over Loki, to let him assist with missions when possible and above all else, to keep him out of trouble.

That had been six weeks ago. And, as far as Darcy knew, Loki hadn't left Stark Tower once.

People stopped talking when he walked into the room. They would change course if they saw him in the hallways. They avoided his eyes, avoided touching him, avoided saying his name. He was a bigger pariah in this place than Bruce Banner. (Which was saying something, since the guys recruited to SHEILD from the army were still scared of the mild mannered scientist)

It was getting kind of ridiculous, in Darcy's opinion. Yeah, he was kind of scary and yeah, he'd done some terrible things, but those things could be said about most SHEILD agents. The Black Widow was much scarier in Darcy's opinion, Hawkeye probably had a higher body count, and Tony Stark had all three of them beat if deaths by proxy counted. Which it might.

Today's incident had been the last straw. Darcy had been in the lab Jane shared with a couple other astrophysicists, dutifully taking notes and handing Jane bits of Pop-tart whenever Jane's hand stilled. Dr. Banner had come in for a reference on... something, Darcy really wasn't sure.

While the scientists were scienceing, Thor had swooped in, Loki lurking somewhere behind like he always did these days. Jane had been delighted t see her giant of a boyfriend, and ignored Loki entirely. In fact, everyone in the lab ignored Loki, preferring to act as if he wasn't even there.

Well, everyone except Dr. Banner. He looked at Loki with a strange mix of fear, coldness and what might've been... pity?

Anyway, Loki noticed. (Loki always noticed. Darcy couldn't count how many times he'd caught her staring at him, only to get a raised eyebrow and a half smirk in return). "Good evening Dr. Banner." Loki had said softly.

The good doctor had blanched, and then left without another word, his notes left forgotten on Jane's desk.

Now, Darcy bit her lip, plunging in to the next part of her apology word vomit in full Darcy style. "What Dr. Banner did wasn't cool either. I expected better from him, at least."

He was silent, staring out at the lights of the city.

Darcy braved another step into the room. "Do you... do you know who I am? I'm Darcy-"

"Darcy Lewis, twenty three years old, intrepid assistant to my brothers mortal... infatuation." Loki listed quickly, practically spitting the words out as if they were acid on his tongue. "I know who you are Miss Lewis, and I know you haven't answered my question. Why are you here?"

His words were like ice, but Darcy had never been one to give up easy. "Because everyone here is acting childish, and I want to apologize."

"Apologize." he laughed bitterly, turning to look at her, his eyes piercing in the gloom. "And why ever would you try? Kind words to soothe the savage beast?"

"You're not a beast Loki, and it's shitty the way they're treating you." Darcy was surprised by the strength of her own words. "It feels like I'm watching some demented reenactment of my childhood."

He looked at her for a long moment. Darcy tried not to fidget under his gaze. His eyes were piercing, even in the gloom. Darcy remembered, again, that he wasn't just a man, he was a god.

Finally, Loki turned his gaze to the window, back to the world outside.

But it didn't feel like he was ignoring her. In fact, Darcy got the distinct feeling that she'd just gotten an invitation.

They talked all through the night, sharing stories. "So I've finally got them convinced that Thor is Freya, and then the big oaf Thrym decides that everyone should begin to dance! If you have never seen a group of trolls dance, I take my hat off to you, it's just terrible."

"I think I've seen Thor dance."

"The trolls were better."

And Loki cackled gleefully at the mental image of Darcy tazing Thor. "The mighty god of thunder, brought down by his own weapon. If he was smart enough, I think he might even appreciate the irony."

"Well, what was I supposed to do?" Darcy giggled, just a little defensively. She loved the big guy and while it had been awesome at the time, she felt a bit bad now. "He was like nine feet tall and stumbling around, and I mean, I had just hit him with a van. And when I say I, I mean Jane."

He told her tales of his adventures with Thor and Lady Sif and The Warriors Three. With two or three thousand years under his belt, there were plenty to chose from. As the night wore on, he even told her stories about his own children.

"I had never imagined something so lovely as that little girl," Loki said wistfully, laying on his back to stare at the ceiling. "Despite what they say, Hela was my first child. Oh, how perfect she seemed."

"And Hela rules the underworld right?" Darcy wracked her brain, trying to bring the information back. "Well, at least the realm of the dead who haven't died in battle. That's Valhalla."

"For someone who assists a lady of science, you seem to know an awful lot about The Realm Eternal and its inner workings." Loki glanced over at her. Darcy thought he'd be angry, but he almost seemed... impressed.

Darcy preened. "Someone had to come up files on you Asgardians. And being one person's assistant basically means I'm everyone's assistant. I can't tell you how much coffee I have to get in a day. Jane put up a sign, but who has time to read sharpie marker when there's Science to be done." She finished ruefully, resting her chin against her pillow and pulling a face.

Loki laughed at her mugging. "Well I'd be very interested in what those files had to say."

Darcy squinted at him. "Oh no mister. I know your reputation. You aren't charming it out of me that easily."

"And you think you could keep it from me?" Loki sat up suddenly, the glint on his eyes mischevious. it made her heart race. "I am the God of Lies Darcy Lewis. There is naught you can keep from me that I won't eventually find out."

Darcy knew she should be scared, but, she wasn't really. Just excited. She batted her eyelashes. "You keep trying to scare me, but all I can think about is you being the mother of an eight legged horse."

Loki laughed. She liked making him laugh. It looked good on him.

But then, everything did.

"It feels like my life was so small before I got mixed up in all of this. Like, I was just a college student trying to clear out my science credit." Darcy had sprawled out on his bed. In typical Tony Stark fashion, it was huge, because the billionaire genius playboy philanthropist never did anything by halves.

"Honestly, I will never understand the Midgardian obsession with science." Loki scoffed.

"Well," Darcy bit her lip, recalling what Erik Selvig had told her once. "science is like magic for us, it helps us understand and manipulate the universe. Without science, Jane wouldn't have been able to make the Einstein-rose bridge."

"Einstein-Rosen Bridge." Because of course he would know the proper name of something he claims not to understand. Of course he fucking would.

"Yes, that."

"Magic is nothing like that."

"Okay then smart guy, what is magic like?" Darcy pulled herself up, leaning on her elbows to look at him. He'd migrated to the low couch that probably wasn't very comfortable, but that didn't seem to bother him. Maybe he was used to lounging on marble and gold, so that was the uncomfy couch was the equivalent of a goose down mattress.

He smirked at her. "It isn't something that translates very well."

"Try me."

This was clearly the wrong thing to say to a god, or at least this god; Loki was hovering above her in an instant, his knees on either side of her legs, his long lean form towering over her, his blue eyes piercing in the dark. Darcy felt her heart skip a beat and begin in a whole new tempo.

He didn't touch her. His lips quirked into a half smile at her distress. "I mean you know harm." he soothed, his voice like honey. "You asked for me to describe magic, this is the only way I know of. Sit up."

Darcy did as he asked. Loki slid her glasses from her eyes, and then reached to softly touched her face with both hands, almost cradling it, his index fingers touching her temples. "It works best in you close your eyes."

She squinted playfully, aware of how hard her heart was beating still. "So you say."

Loki rolled his eyes. "Really little Midgardian, if I wanted to do something..." he left the sentence hanging, instead closing his eyes and furrowing his brow.

"I'd have no choice in the matter?" She joked.

He opened one eye. "What sort of men have you been involved with? And don't answer that, I can guess. Rest assured, if I wanted to do anything inappropriate, you'd know." He closed his eyes again. "Now hush."

"Is it really so-"

And then words left her as an intense warmth filled her, starting at the tips of her fingers and flooding her down to her toes. She felt electrified, like she'd been hit with three tazers at once, like she was hearing the most beautiful piece of music and the laughter of children and her Nana's lullabies, like she'd just gotten the best kiss of her life, like she was smelling thanksgiving and the ocean and freshly washed sheets and honeysuckle, like she had just eaten her father's secret mug brownies and hugged a kitten, like she was whole and perfect and loved for the first time in her short life.

Darcy didn't realize Loki had moved, didn't realize she was crying until he brushed a tear from her face. Her eyes fluttered open and almost immediately the warmth left her, seeping away until all she could feel was a tingling in her fingers and at the tip of her nose.

Loki's forehead was resting against hers, and she distantly registered that she was trembling. Darcy shut her eyes against the sting on the tears, and she felt him brush away another tear. "Let me guess, the first one's free but the next one's gonna cost me?"

Loki laughed shakily, and he was trembling too. "I fear I may have overdone it," he murmured, his right hand brushing against her cheek before dropping to grip her hand. "Apologies."

"No, that's the only way to do things I say." Darcy smiled, her breathing was a little more even now. "Go big or go home."

"I never know what you're saying Darcy Lewis."

"Just Darcy is fine."

"Just Darcy then. And that's a good idea, I may use it."

"Use what?"

Loki arched one delicate eyebrow. "Your idea to bolster my failing reputation."

Darcy bit her lip, trying not to be incredible terrified that he'd been able to read her thoughts, literally. "So you really are a mind reader." she muttered.

"I fear the taste of magic I gave you displaced some of your thoughts. They had no place to go but to the only other mind available." Loki squeezed her hand. "I put them back where I found them." he told her gently, sounding almost apologetic.

"No no, it's, it's okay." Darcy took a deep breath, pulling away from him.

He moved his hand away from hers immediately, and she found that she missed the warmth. They sat there like that for a few moments, so close on the bed but not touching. After sharing minds and magic like that, a foot apart seemed like a chasm between them.

Just before the silence grew so long as to be awkward, Darcy sucked a breath through her teeth and blurted, "So. It's not a terrible idea? Even though the Einstein Rose bridge isn't up and running yet?"

"Rosen."

"Yes, that."

Loki's eyes seemed to brighten. "There are many paths between realms Darcy Lewis. The Bifrost is but one of them. A quick jaunt to Valhalla would be a walk in the park."

Darcy smiled. So he had been feeling cooped up. "Would they even let you in?" she asked, warming to the idea.

Loki flashed her a mischievous grin. "Well, we'll hardly be asking permission." He stood quickly, his long legs unfolding so fast Darcy had to force herself not to stare. Was it illegal on Asgard to be unattractive or something? Loki smiled at her again, offering his hand. Darcy stared at his long fingers, uncomprehending.

"Care for an adventure Just Darcy?"

Darcy grinned, and took his hand.

And after an adventure to Valhalla that was just too epic to be documented, involving angry Valkyries, an undead secret agent and one incredibly angry woodchuck, Darcy decided that being Loki's friend might just be worth it after all.

This just sort of happened. I make no excuses for it. Oh well, I think the two of them would make to best adventure buddies.

There might be more, there might not. We'll see!