Jane came out of her room some time around midnight. Darcy still hadn't gone to bed. She sat up in front of the TV, eating a bowl of Cap'n Crunch, and trying to figure out what the hell she was going to do.

"Hey," Jane said, walking carefully around the edge of the living room and into the kitchen.

"Hi," Darcy said blandly.

"I kinda got the feeling something happened today, but we never really got to talk about it. What's up?" Jane opened the refrigerator door and looked inside, but didn't find anything worth pulling out.

"Ian broke up with me today," Darcy said. "He's going back to England, and we can't get our money back from anything we've already paid for."

Jane gaped, standing up straight with the refrigerator door still held open. "That little shit. He could have at least waited until next month."

"That's what I said!" Darcy agreed.

Jane let the fridge door shut heavily. "I could actually kill him."

"I think Loki offered to," Darcy said, half-joking. She didn't think an offer to beat someone up was really the same thing as actually killing them, but it could be close enough.

Jane didn't seem to hear the insincerity in Darcy's voice and groaned. "What was he doing in here, anyway? I'm really not comfortable with him in here."

"I know," Darcy said. "But his van got towed and it was snowing, so I told him he could stay inside if he bought me dinner. He's not that bad. When he's not jerking off in front of my laptop."

Jane groaned again. "Well, Thor says he's dangerous."

"It was like, eight years ago," Darcy said, realising she was actually defending the guy who kept breaking into their apartment.

"What was?" asked Jane.

"When he stabbed that guy," Darcy said. "People change. Or grow up, I guess."

"He stabbed somebody?" Jane gasped.

Darcy had always assumed that was what made Jane so uncomfortable. Now, she regretted saying anything. "Uh. Yeah," she said slowly. "He didn't kill the guy. It was just a bar fight." She wasn't sure why she was still defending Loki, especially since it seemed like there was more questionable behaviour she hadn't heard bout.

"Well, there you go. Thor says he's dangerous."

"No, what's dangerous is screwing us out of the cost of a trip to Costa Rica and leaving the country," Darcy corrected. "I've been trying to figure out all night if we'd be able to sue him."

"Probably not. If he's going back to England, and we didn't put anything in writing," Jane pointed out.

Darcy sighed. "The plane ticket's in his name," she said hopefully.

Jane sighed as well and sat down on the sofa next to Darcy. "I'm really sorry. That was a seriously rotten thing to do. He didn't break up over a text, did he?"

"No. He asked me out on a date and tried to make me order dinner first," Darcy said. "I was so pissed off, I accidentally left my coat. I'm gonna go back tomorrow and see if they still have it."

"Wow," said Jane. "That's... I'm kinda pissed."

"I'm very pissed," Darcy said. She picked up her phone and pulled up the calculator app. "Tickets are what? Twelve a day? Plus the eleven for the flight. Plus the five hundred a night for the room? It's like, seventeen grand. Plus all the spending cash I put away, but that at least isn't sitting on hold in a frozen account." She sighed and tossed her phone onto the sofa. If it was just her money, she thought it might have stung less. If she hadn't asked Jane to help pay for his part, she wouldn't have felt so guilty about the money. Money it had taken them years to save up, even with Thor chipping in to the fund once the trip turned into a couples thing.

She was so mad and sick about the money, that she barely even cared about Ian. If not for the trip, she would have been heartbroken; doomed to spend the next few weeks in her pyjamas, eating gallons of Greek yoghurt and watching iLove Actually/i on constant repeat.

"Well. Think of it this way," said Jane. "You get that really nice room all to yourself for ten days."

Darcy snorted. Jane sometimes had a gift for the silver lining. Even if they were out the price for the flight and the park admission, that hotel room was at least still being used.

She rubbed her face with both hands and turned off the TV. "I shouldn't even be up right now. I'm working another double tomorrow, and need to be up early."

She took her empty cereal bowl to the sink and set it down inside the basin, already knowing she'd be in no mood for a long shift in the editing room. But as well as going a long way toward financing the trip, all her long shifts meant she was getting really good at her job, really quickly. And the station was willing to give her all the overtime she wanted. There was always something happening that needed to be turned into a cohesive story with just the right slant on it. Which worked out just fine for Darcy, because it meant they always needed people standing by to do it.

She gave Jane a meagre wave in lieu of a proper good night on her way to her room, set her alarm, and tried to sleep.

The only thing about the long shifts she truly disliked was that she had to get the bus home from Manhattan in the dark. At least when she was on the bus, there was a driver right there, who would probably step in if something happened. But the walk home, even if it was only a couple of blocks, was nervewracking. It was cold and snowing again, so nobody else was out on the street. She wasn't even sure which was worse: when there were other people out, or when she was completely alone. But either way, she held her bag tight against her side, and kept one hand in her pocket, gripping her taser tightly. She never let go of it, until she was in the building, up the stairs, and right in front of her door.

The door which was, of course, locked with the chain. The door was never supposed to be locked with the chain when one of them was out.

"Let me in," she called through the crack.

She could hear Thor's heavy foot steps on the floor, no doubt driving the downstairs neighbours insane. He had no idea how to walk in an apartment.

"We had an unwanted guest," Thor said as he let Darcy in.

"So call the cops on him," Darcy chided as she hung up her coat and put her handbag and phone in the kitchen. There was a bottle of Advil that had a permanent home by the sink, and Darcy took two pills from it and poured herself a small glass of water.

"You know, I really wish twenty minutes of every half hour of programming wasn't focused on violent street crime," she complained. She took off her glasses and rubbed her temples, wondering if it was possible to get a brain tumour from staring at a screen for too long. "It makes getting home at night really suck."

Jane laughed. "You say that every night."

"Well, it's true every night," Darcy argued. "But! This was my last double shift ever. My next paycheque after this one is going into the bank, and only coming out again for rent."

Jane made a gaspy little sound. "So, we're officially covered for everything?"

Darcy joined Jane and Thor in the living room, taking a seat in the empty chair in the corner. "Officially covered for everything. I did the math today on my first lunch. With this cheque, we'll have five grand in the spending cash account, which fucking better last us ten days."

"Yeah, well. I hear they charge seven bucks for a small soda, so we'll see," Jane said cynically.

"You're still going?" Thor asked suddenly.

"What?" asked Darcy.

Thor seemed genuinely confused. Even more confused than Darcy felt at that moment.

"Well. I thought since Ian wouldn't be coming, and we planned it as a date thing–"

"Woah, no," said Darcy, cutting him off sharply. "Of course I'm still going. I didn't bust my ass working nine million hours of overtime for the last three years for nothing."

"It just seemed like–" Thor was cut off again when Jane smacked him in the chest and gaped.

"Just stop," she said.

"Are you trying to say you'd rather I didn't go, since I'm single now?" asked Darcy.

"Darcy, no," Jane said.

It took Thor a moment to answer, as if he were trying to think of the least tactless way to arrange his thoughts. "I just assumed you might not want to be the third wheel," he said finally.

"Really not helping!" Jane said loudly.

"Wow. Okay. I'm going to bed now," Darcy decided, getting up and walking toward her room. "Don't go to Costa Rica without me."

"Darcy," Jane pleaded.

Darcy ignored her. She was tired, and had a headache, and didn't want to be in the same room as Thor anymore. She vaguely realised he probably didn't mean it the way it came out, but she was still pissed off at him for saying anything at all. Even with the door closed, muffling the sounds of Thor getting a serious ass-chewing, Darcy seethed. She was pissed off enough at wasting the money on Ian's share. Like hell was she going to throw the other half of it away, too.

Sometimes, very rarely, Darcy could see why Thor's brother hated him so much. Because he really could be the most naively self-centred person on the planet. The whole trip wasn't even meant to be a couples trip in the first place. It had only become one when Thor decided he wanted to go as well. And when Darcy had started seeing Ian, she agreed to pay for his way, since he was living on student grants, and she was already working all the overtime anyway. She didn't even care, because she thought it would be fun to go on a double-date to Jurassic World.

A thought that wouldn't have even occurred to her, if Thor hadn't invited himself along in the first place.

As her thoughts swirled and circled around, she managed to convince herself that, when it came down to it, the lost money was kind of Thor's fault. After all, the trip was originally only supposed to be her and Jane, and could have happened a full year earlier if not for the guys going along.

But thinking about it only made Darcy even angrier. She was too tired to deal with it, and would have her entire day off to seethe about it.

Still not quite able to let it go, she changed into her pyjamas and flopped down onto her bed. Lying there, on top of the covers, she almost wished her break-up with Ian had been typical. Being pissed off at him might have been a hell of a lot easier than being pissed off about everything else.

Eventually, she managed to fall asleep. Without her alarm to wake her, she didn't wake until almost noon. She looked out her window into the alley to see the snow piled slightly deeper than it had been when she got home the night before. Looking at it, she couldn't wait to get to Costa Rica. A warm Christmas seemed like such a novel concept. She'd always wanted to spend Christmas poolside at some tropical resort, instead of huddled into three layers of coats on the subway.

Imagining what it was going to be like, Darcy grabbed her keys and walked down the stairs to the mailboxes. As she sifted through the junkmail, something outside caught her eye. She looked, and saw Thor's car parked outside, with Loki trying to break into the back seat. Dreams of poolside lounging forgotten, Darcy opened the door and called out to Loki.

"What are you doing?" she asked when he looked up.

Loki pointed into the back seat of Thor's car. "My wallet," he said.

Darcy stepped close enough to look into the back seat, and sure enough, Loki's wallet was right in the middle of the back seat. She'd seen it before, when he left it in the apartment; scuffed and beaten black leather, with a Metallica logo stamped into the front. It had a tendency to fall out of his pocket whenever he sat down, which Darcy had begun to suspect was deliberate, so he'd always have an excuse to come back.

"What's it doing in there?" she asked.

"Our mother made him take me to go get my van. He makes me sit in the back seat," Loki said.

Darcy laughed, only able to imagine how their morning went. "Well, he might be upstairs, if you want to try your luck. But I'm not talking to him right now, so it's all you."

She opened the door to the building, waiting for Loki to follow her inside.

"Why aren't you talking to him? I thought you liked the big ape," Loki said.

Darcy groaned and shook her head. "If I start, I'm never gonna stop," she said.

Now, Loki laughed. "That bad? I thought I was the only person he ever pissed off like that."

Darcy bit her tongue, refusing to start on the rant she knew would go on for an hour. She'd already given Loki a good earful of it the night Ian broke up with her, and he really didn't need to know the rest. Instead of saying anything, she let Loki into the apartment, and headed back to her bedroom, dropping the mail onto the table on her way.

"Good luck," she said.

As she got dressed, she could hear the guys getting into their usual argument. It was always the same. Loki wasn't supposed to be there, Loki needed something, Thor was sick of doing things for Loki, Thor only ever did anything for himself, Loki brought it all on himself, I hate you, go fuck yourself, slamming doors. It was a particularly odd iteration, considering the entire argument was about Loki needing his wallet out of the back seat of Thor's car.

Darcy waited until it sounded like the living room was clear before leaving her bedroom to grab her things and leave. If Thor was hanging around the apartment, Darcy didn't want to be there with him. She thought that maybe if she went out for a quick something to eat, he'd be gone by the time she got back, and then she could spend her day off in peace.

Thor was gone by the time she got downstairs, though. Or at least, his car was. So she assumed he'd gone with it, since Loki was trudging down the sidewalk again, kicking up snow as he went.

"He didn't even take you back down there?" Darcy asked as she caught up with him. "Rude."

"I just want to..." Loki made a fist and held it up. "Punch him really hard in the nose." Darcy got the impression Loki wanted to say something entirely different.

Darcy laughed. "I kinda know that feeling," she said.

Loki shoved his hands into his pockets and shook his head. "So, you're not going to tell me what he did?" he asked.

"You sure you want to hear about it?" Darcy returned, still not sure Loki needed to know any of it.

"Oh, very much so," said Loki.

Darcy inhaled deeply. She didn't exactly not trust him, and she definitely didn't believe everything Thor said about him, but there was still something off about Loki. Something almost completely unhinged and unstable. A tiny voice in the back of her head told her that maybe Thor was what made him that way. After all, terrible people didn't usually spend the last of their money to buy someone dinner.

"So. Ian," Darcy said.

"Sure you don't want me to beat him up?" Loki asked.

"Pretty sure," said Darcy. "But, last night was my last double shift, probably ever. I've been working double shifts probably three or four times a week for like, the last three years, to pay for this trip. Which is why Ian pisses me off so much. It's not that he broke up with me, or how he broke up with me. It's that I've busted my ass for three years to pay for him to go on this trip for me, and now all of a sudden, he's not going. He acts like he's going to get arrested if he's not out of the country on the day he graduates, but like, Jesus Christ. Nobody's going to care about an extra week."

"So it's already been paid for?" asked Loki, actually sounding interested.

"Some of it," said Darcy, struggling to keep up with his long-legged gait down the frozen sidewalk. "Technically, I don't get charged for the non-refundable hotel rooms until the day of the reservation, whether or not we actually check in, but that was almost ten grand for two rooms, on top of the five we already paid for the non refundable plane tickets. And his non refundable fast pass, and his park admission. iNon-refundable/i. That's like, seventeen grand, just on him, gone. We're never going to see that money again."

"That's more than some people make in a year," Loki pointed out.

"Uh-huh! So you can imagine my reaction when Thor says last night that he thought I wouldn't want to go, since it's a 'couples thing'," Darcy said, almost to the point of shouting. "He actually uninvited me from my own fucking trip. Do you know how that feels?"

Loki shrugged. "I wasn't even invited," he pointed out.

They'd passed by the café Darcy had intended to stop at, but she kept walking with Loki anyway. It felt weirdly good to be able to just unload about the whole thing. Especially to someone who wouldn't try to defend the people she was bitching about.

"Neither was Thor," she said. "Seriously, just one day, he apparently assumed he was going, and asked how much his share needed to be. That was the whole reason I invited Ian. Because I knew if it was just those two and me, they'd be making their lovey face at one another the whole time, and I'd be wandering off alone. Which I'm going to be doing anyway, for double the cost it would have been."

They walked in silence for a few moments, Darcy right back up to peak levels of rage.

"You said everything's non-refundable. Is it transferable?" Loki asked suddenly.

"The only thing with Ian's name on it is the plane ticket, and those can only be cancelled," said Darcy.

"So, really, you could take anybody you wanted. You wouldn't even have to go alone," Loki pointed out.

"At the cost of a new plane ticket, yeah," Darcy said, looking up at him suspiciously. "What are you suggesting?"

Loki shrugged casually. "It would certainly piss off my brother. The only source of joy in my life, these days."

Darcy thought about it. If nothing else, having Loki around would prevent that constant lovey face from happening. And she wouldn't feel like she'd worked so hard for nothing. It even kind of helped that she was so angry with Thor, the idea of him being pissed off on their vacation kind of appealed to her. And she could even use it as an opportunity to get back at Ian, in a petty, childish way. After all, this was all his fault for breaking up with her.

"Okay," she said, nodding. "I'll make you a deal. If you can pay for your plane ticket, you can take Ian's place. I'm talking strictly platonic, but I kind of want to pretend it's not, so I can flood my Twitter with pictures of all the fun I'm having with my new fake boyfriend."

Loki laughed. "I like the way you think. How much is the flight?"

"Our tickets were all eleven-hundred, but they might be more, since it's so close to our fly-date," Darcy said as Loki pulled out his wallet. She could see inside as he thumbed through the huge stack of cash that hadn't been there two days before. "Holy shit, where'd you get all that?" she asked.

"I sold some snakes," Loki said, nodding to himself and putting his wallet back into his pocket. "You should have seen Thor's face when I put them in his car."

"Snakes?" asked Darcy.

"Three clutches. A little earlier than I like to sell them, but I needed the money to get my van," Loki explained.

"You sold some snakes?" Darcy asked, still stuck on the first part.

"It was the only job I could find straight out of prison," Loki explained. "I started out helping this other guy. He had this huge operation, and needed someone to clean the habitats."

"You sell snakes," Darcy repeated. "To who?"

"Pet shops, mostly. Some private sales," Loki said, starting to laugh. Darcy realised she probably sounded like an idiot. "Depends on the morph."

Darcy had no idea what that meant, and was still too hung up on the snakes to ask. Then, suddenly, something else he said finally caught up with her, and she stopped in her tracks.

"Hey, wait a minute. Can you even go to Costa Rica?" she asked.

Loki shrugged. "I get into Canada, and they get twitchy if you had a joint on you in 1985."

Darcy shook her head, still baffled. "Okay," she said. "Well. Let's go get your van, and go to the airport to get your ticket. I have to cancel Ian's anyway."

As they walked along, looking for a cab they could hail, Darcy began to wonder if this was wise. She did want to irritate Ian, but she wasn't entirely sure they'd all make it through a ten-day trip with both Thor and Loki.

But something also told her that Loki would have otherwise been spending the holidays alone, with his dog and his snakes, which gave her a strangely unsettling feeling. And not letting all that money go completely to waste did make her feel a lot better. She was only out $1,100, instead of $17,000, and that smaller amount was much easier to live with.