Darcy wouldn't say she was actively avoiding Heimdall, but yes, she was avoiding Heimdall. Had been for the last few months. She hadn't told him that she was now visiting Asgard three or four days a month, depending on how long her period lasted (and ew, why did it have to be dependent on that of all things?). She hadn't told him she was pretty sure she knew what she was. She hadn't told him that she was now pushing the limit of her powers just to see how far she could go.
She was willing to admit that yes, she was a little bitter. After all, Heimdall had known what she was for years and never told her. It would have taken him two seconds to end a lifetime of searching for answers. But no, he had to be Mr. Mysterious and Cryptic, as usual.
So yeah, Darcy was avoiding Heimdall.
So instead of hanging out with him at the Bifrost, Darcy spent most of her time in Asgard either in the library, or in the city, blending in with the crowds of people and exploring.
Asgard was amazing. Like, mind-blowingly amazing. Darcy saw things that half the time she didn't even understand. She had moments of guilt, thinking about Jane and how much Jane would love it here, but then she would imagine the look of horror and betrayal that would surely be on Jane's face if Darcy ever told her the truth, and then Darcy didn't feel guilty anymore.
It had been almost a year since Thor had crash-landed in the desert and Jane had more or less given up looking for him. Darcy didn't try to encourage her to keep going, as she knew it was pointless. The Bifrost still hadn't been repaired, and Darcy herself hadn't even tried to contact Thor. She'd thought about it, and then decided she wasn't ready to tell Thor the truth, either. She wanted to wait until she had a better handle on the whole thing.
After all, she didn't have a whole lot of information on norns.
As far as she could tell, norns were ancient Norse goddesses, enforcers of fate and protectors of Yggdrasil, the world tree. They were also giantesses and most definitely not human. Darcy had no idea how she fit into the picture, but the list of powers the norns had kinda sorta matched the things that she could do.
But the thought that she could be a Norse goddesses was beyond ridiculous. Come on, seriously. She was Jewish.
So for the moment, Darcy set that possibility aside and instead just focused on getting a better handle on her powers.
She could still predict the weather with startling accuracy. The whole cat-whisperer thing was kinda cool, a little creepy. Those critters literally came out of nowhere to say hello to her. And it was a constant thing. Even Jane started to notice it. The butterfly summoning wasn't really an issue in New Mexico, where there were no butterflies, but she had done it at least three times in Asgard without meaning to. The ability to read people, though, that's where she struggled the most.
It was hit or miss, really. Sometimes she saw people with perfect clarity, and other times she got absolutely nothing. Jane, for instance, remained stubbornly un-readable, no matter how hard Darcy tried (and boy, did she try). Erik, however, was an open book, on the rare occasion he came around for a visit. Darcy always had this feeling that weird shit was going to happen whenever Erik was around, and she was usually right.
Darcy liked to practice on Asgardians when she was in the city. She'd taken a robe from the palace and hid it in the library to use on her visits, so people didn't stare at her like a fish out of water. Most Asgardians didn't even notice her, which was okay in her book, until someone tried to run her over. Seriously, all of them were so freakin' tall. Darcy wasn't terribly petite (not like Jane) but the Asgardians towered over her to a ridiculous fashion.
When the man came to offer Jane a job at the observatory in Norway, Darcy knew something was up. She could smell SHIELD all over the man, but when she tried to warn Jane, there was only so much she could say without giving herself away.
"Private jet, Darcy," Jane said.
So they packed up their equipment and headed off to Norway. Hey, at least Darcy spoke the language, right?
There was an apartment waiting for them in Oslo, and after a twelve hour flight, Darcy was ready to crash. So she was not thrilled to wake up standing on the sidewalk in...New York?
"What the hell?" Darcy muttered, turning around in place. She had never dream-walked anywhere except Asgard before. "I'm not even on my period," she whispered to herself.
The people around her were staring up at the sky and pointing, talking excitedly and yelling. Darcy turned around and her mouth fell open. There was a hole in the sky and there were things pouring out of it, things that swooped and skittered over the buildings.
Then the explosions started.
Darcy's first instinct was to run for cover but as she bolted for the nearest building, she had a horrible, sick feeling in her stomach that forced her to a stop in the middle of the street. Other people ran past her, screaming in terror.
"No!" Darcy yelled at them. "Don't go in there!"
One of the flying things tore past overhead, too fast for Darcy to see, and the side of the building exploded, raining debris down on the people trying to take cover. Most of them were crushed by the rubble.
Darcy pressed her hands to her mouth to hold back a scream of horror. She spun around and realized she was standing in the middle of a long, straight street and there were more of the flying things headed straight for her.
They looked kind of like jetskis, she thought, staring at the crafts bearing down on her. Bolts of energy sizzled through the air and slammed into cars with explosive force. Darcy took a deep breath and held it.
The sounds of chaos around her suddenly went dim and muffled, replaced by a high, crystalline ringing. The attackers became clear and sharp as broken glass while everything else was blurred. Darcy saw the attackers, saw their path, the angle of their attack, the line of their fire.
She saw everything.
She stepped to the side a moment before an energy beam blasted past her, but she didn't flinch, nor did she react at the explosion behind her. She knew what she had to do, and she knew how to do it.
Darcy grabbed the first person who ran past her. "You have to get underground!" she yelled over the ringing in her ears. She pointed to the nearest subway entrance. "Get everyone you can and get them underground!"
She didn't wait to see if her orders were followed. She took off running down the street, weaving in a seemingly random pattern that somehow managed to avoid all of the falling debris.
A shadow darkened the sky overhead and she looked up again. A vast creature swam through the sky as if through the deepest ocean, graceful despite its impossible size and complete disregard for the laws of gravity.
Figures were repelling off the giant creature and landing on the ground and buildings, figures most definitely not human. Darcy pushed that realization aside and kept running. One of the creatures (aliens?) landed near her and leveled his weapon at her. Darcy dropped into a slide to let the energy pulses pass over her and pushed back to her feet.
She reached an underpass where a dozen or so people were huddled under the bridge, crying in fear. Darcy crouched next to them and scanned the sky.
"Okay, here's the play," she said, slightly winded. "There's gonna be a gap in twenty-four seconds. You're gonna make a break for that building and use the basement to get into the subway tunnels. You go down as far as you can and you stay there, got it?"
Darcy looked around at the people, who were staring at her as if she was insane. "Hey!" she yelled at them. "Look alive, people! We've gotta move!" She checked the sky again. "All right, go! Go now!"
When no one budged, Darcy dragged the nearest person to their feet and pushed them towards the building in question. "Move!" she ordered again. She managed to get the others on their feet and heading in the right direction. She followed them to the doors of the building and looked back.
The underpass dissolved into a fireball with enough force to send concrete through the windows of the surrounding buildings. If they had stayed there, no one would have survived.
Darcy took another deep breath and held it, letting the world sharpen into focus. The people in the building behind her were safe now. She had to keep moving.
There was a school bus on its side across the street from her. Darcy mapped a path through the energy pulses and explosions and darted across as fast as her stockinged feet would carry her.
The kids inside the bus were too scared to scream. The bus driver was clearly dead and two of the kids were too injured to move. Darcy picked up one of them and handed her to the biggest student. Then she picked the second one up and cradled him to her chest.
"When I say, you follow me, okay?" she told the kids. "You got that? Follow me."
Darcy kicked out the emergency exit and clambered out of the bus into the street. "Come on!" she yelled at the kids. "Let's go!"
They filed out after her as she led them around the corner and down the stairs into a subway station. Once they were far enough down the track, Darcy put down the child in her arms and turned to the oldest kid.
"Stay here until an adult comes for you, okay?" She waited until got an affirmative before heading back to street level.
The city was in absolute chaos. Explosions were going off everywhere and people were running in all directions. Darcy choked on bile forcing itself up her throat as she realized she knew the exact second each one of them would die. She had to do something to stop it, stop them all from dying, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out how.
She stood in the middle of the street, confident that she wasn't in danger at the moment, and focused all of her attention on the portal high over head, trying to glean every bit of information her powers could give her. It was all garbled and unintelligible, like listening to the radio in a different language.
A blur of blue and red landed next to her and a strong grip spun her out of the way of an energy blast that would have missed her by two inches. She pulled free of the grip and looked her new companion up and down. He was wearing an extremely well-tailored outfit of red, white, and blue, including a helmet that partially obscured his face, and a round metal shield, which she instantly recognized.
"Seriously?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "Who the fuck are you supposed to be?"
The man faltered for a moment, caught off-guard by her question. "I'm...I'm, uh, Captain America."
It was Darcy's turn to blink at him, nonplussed. "Seriously?" she asked again. Before he could reply, she grabbed his wrist and forced his shield up to catch another energy blast that knocked them back a couple of steps. "Look, whoever you are, this really isn't the best time for making a target of yourself," Darcy said, dropping his arm.
"You're one to talk," the man snapped. "You need to get out of the street, get to cover."
"There are people who are going to die," Darcy protested. "I can save them."
"You are going to get yourself killed," the man said sharply, and grabbed her arm again to drag her out of the street.
Darcy had only a half second's warning, not enough time to go for the shield again, so instead she pushed the man out of the way and spun around, just as the blast impacted her chest.
She woke up with a gasp, jerking upright and clawing at her chest. Her shirt was uncharred, her skin unblemished, but her ribs hurt like a son of a bitch. She flung the covers off and went to find Jane. Her friend was in the living room, huddled under a blanket on the couch, eyes fixed on the television.
The news was playing in Norwegian, which of course Darcy didn't have a problem understanding, but she would have recognized the event regardless. Darcy shuffled into the room. "Jane?" she whispered.
Jane startled and craned her head back to look at Darcy. "I called for you," she said in a thick voice. "You were asleep."
Darcy circle the couch and sat next to Jane, who unfolded enough to glom onto Darcy with a faint sob. Darcy clung to Jane just as hard, unable to tear her eyes away from the screen. "It's okay," Darcy murmured, stroking Jane's hair. "I don't know how, but it's gonna be okay."
Jane sniffed, swiping her face with the blanket. "Thor is there," she said, pointing at the tv. Darcy took a second look to confirm that she was right. How the hell had he gotten there? The bifrost was still inoperable. She said nothing out loud and just held Jane tighter.
XxxXxxX
Darcy marched down the rainbow path, her borrowed robes fluttering around her in the salty wind. She made a beeline towards the golden-armored figure standing at the jagged edge of the bridge. She stopped several yards away and planted her hands on her hips. Heimdall didn't turn around.
"What," Darcy said flatly. "The fuck. Is going on?"
"I presume you mean the incident in New York City," Heimdall replied evenly.
"You presume correctly," Darcy said icily.
"Loki brought an army to Midgard in an attempt to conquer your world. It appears he was after an artifact held by your people."
"Loki," Darcy echoed, crossing her arms. "Great. You know this is the second time I have almost died because of that bastard."
"I do not dispute this," Heimdall said, slowly turning around. "But not everything is as it seems, Darcy Lewis. You of all people should know that."
"Yeah," Darcy replied, drawing the word out. "You mean like me. Since I'm, you know, a norn. Nice of you to let me know, by the way."
"And if I had told you what you truly are, would you have pushed yourself so hard to focus your powers?" Heimdall challenged.
Darcy shook her head, nowhere near mollified. "I visited you for years, Heimdall. I trusted you. I relied on you. And the biggest thing in my life is the thing that you've been keeping from me."
"And I will not apologize for it," Heimdall replied, resting his hands on the hilt of his sword. "I had a reason for everything I did, Darcy Lewis. Remember that you are very, very young, and I am not. I see things that you cannot. Not yet."
"I want to understand what is going on," Darcy insisted. "I need to understand."
Heimdall studied her for a long moment. Darcy raised her chin and squared her shoulders, determined not to bow under the weight of his stare.
"I cannot give you the answers you seek," Heimdall said at length. Darcy opened her mouth to protest but Heimdall silenced her with a look. "I cannot, because it is not my place to do so. This is a journey you must make alone."
Darcy took a deep breath to settle her impulsive burst of annoyance. "You suck," she said at length.
"You may have mentioned this before," Heimdall said with a sagely nod.
Darcy took a second, unsteady breath. "...And I could really use a hug," she added, her voice breaking.
Heimdall sheathed his sword with one smooth motion and reached her side in two steps. "Are you unwell?" he asked gently.
Darcy sniffed loudly to hold back tears and looked up at him. "I was there," she told him. "And I saw so many people die. I felt them die, all of them, felt their pain and fear and…" she shuddered. "And it feels as if something is broken inside me."
Heimdall reached up and unbuckled his breastplate. He set it aside and did the same with his pauldrons, and his shoulder plates. Once he'd removed all the armor from his upper body, he enveloped Darcy in a bear hug. It was the best hug Darcy had ever been given in her whole life. She closed her eyes and hugged him back as tears leaked down her cheeks. Heimdall smelled like sandalwood and spices, and she had never felt more protected.
Heimdall hugged her until Darcy no longer felt like her chest was full of broken glass, only releasing her when she made the first move to pull away. "Thank you," she said, and this time her voice broke out of relief, not sorrow.
"You are stronger than you know, Darcy Lewis," Heimdall told her, staring into her eyes.
"You can just call me Darcy," she told him with a small smile.
He smiled back. "I would rather call you by your true name."
Darcy raised an eyebrow. "And what's that?"
He straightened to his full height. "Sigyn," he told her. He reached out and touched her forehead. "Sleep well, little norn."
Darcy slept the rest of the night and did not dream.
XxxXxxX
Jane was passed out on the couch, from where she had not moved in almost two days, watching the news coverage of the attack on New York. Darcy was sending another email to Dr Selvig. He'd been working with SHIELD for the last few months; maybe he had some news on Thor. Normally Darcy would just pop over to Asgard and ask Heimdall herself, but since her last visit she'd been unable to dream-walk. She suspected Heimdall had something to do with it, which was why she wasn't worried.
A sharp knock on the front door of the apartment startled her and she checked her watch. It was six in the morning, and they weren't expected at the observatory today. Darcy got up from the kitchen table and shuffled over to the door. She checked through the peephole and sighed.
It was one of the SHIELD agents from New Mexico. She really should have seen this coming. She unlocked the door and yanked it open. "What?" she demanded, glaring at the agent.
He looked taken aback at her aggression and it took him a moment to reply. "I'm here to speak with Dr Foster."
"She's unavailable," Darcy said. "I'll take a message."
"It's about her colleague, Dr Selvig," the agent explained.
Darcy's stomach dropped. "Is Erik okay?" she demanded, her grip tightening on the doorknob.
"I'm here to speak with Dr Foster," the agent repeated firmly.
Darcy narrowed her eyes. "Agent...Sitwell, right? Let me remind you that I am not just Dr Foster's intern, I am her personal assistant, caretaker, and friend. I have full access to all parts of her work, including her work for SHIELD. Let me further remind you that I am one of the few people who knows what really happened in New Mexico and SHIELD really wants me to keep my mouth shut, but can't actually do anything to me if I don't, given that Thor will probably kick all of your asses if anything happens to me, or by extension, Jane. Also, I tased Thor. And if I'm willing to do that to a Norse god, just imagine what I'd be willing to do to your scrawny human ass."
She crossed her arms and glared at Sitwell. "So let me ask you again. Is Erik okay?"
Sitwell stared at her for a couple of seconds. "Dr Selvig is currently being hospitalized for injuries he sustained during the incident in New York."
"Oh, my god," Darcy whispered. She turned around and walked back into the apartment, going straight to the couch and shaking Jane awake. "Jane. Jane, wake up. SHIELD is here. Something happened to Erik."
"What?" Jane mumbled blearily, rubbing her eyes.
"Erik is in the hospital," Darcy told her. Jane shot upright, looking around wildly.
"What?" she asked again. "What happened?"
Darcy turned expectantly to Agent Sitwell, who had followed her into the apartment. Sitwell took a deep breath. "When Loki first arrived, he used unfamiliar technology to create some sort of hypnosis over Dr Selvig, which resulted in Dr Selvig becoming extremely receptive to orders from Loki. He was held in this condition for several days before the hypnosis was broken. It appears there may be some aftereffects psychologically and physiologically."
"Mind control," Jane said flatly. "You're basically saying he was mind-controlled by Loki."
Sitwell shifted his weight. "In simplistic terms, yes."
"Oh, my god," Jane said, unknowingly echoing Darcy. She flung off the blanket she was wrapped in. "Where is he?"
"He's being treated at a SHIELD facility," Sitwell said, trying to reassure her. "He is getting the best possible care."
"I want to see him," Jane said. "We are going to see him and you are going to take us there. Now."
"Dr Foster, I've been asked to bring you to our facility in Washington to analyze the readings we recorded on the portal during the incident in Manhattan," Sitwell said, shaking his head.
"Erik first," Jane insisted.
"It's essential we get you to Washington as soon as possible," Sitwell tried to protest.
Jane held up a hand. "No. Erik first. You know what, where's Coulson? I want to talk to him. He's the one we've been working with. Where is he?"
Sitwell hesitated visibly. "Agent Coulson was killed in action during the incident," he said quietly.
Darcy and Jane both froze, turning to stare at Sitwell. "Okay," Jane said unevenly. "Okay. We'll go to Washington, but I still want to see Erik, make sure he's alright."
"That can be arranged," Sitwell promised.
Darcy and Jane had gotten last-minute packing down to a science. Both of them were dressed and ready to go in half an hour.
XxxXxxX
The Shield facility in Washington, DC was called the Triskelion and Darcy hated it the moment she stepped through the front doors. She had a crawly feeling up and down her spine as if the building was going to collapse around her ears any second. But for Jane's sake she kept her mouth shut as they were escorted directly to a lab full of sci-fi equipment.
Jane set her laptop bag down and crossed her arms. "Okay. I want to see Erik now."
Sitwell nodded. "He's in the medical wing. I'll take you now."
"Wait, you mean he was in the same building this whole time?" Darcy demanded.
Sitwell nodded, face blank. Darcy stalked past him out of the lab. "Asshole," she shot at him.
Dr Selvig was in an isolation room, hooked up to some kind of brain monitoring machine, and was asleep when Darcy and Jane arrived. Jane hovered at the side of his bed, looking uncertain. Darcy took a more direct approach. She took his hand in both of hers and squeezed gently.
"Erik?" she called. "Dr Selvig?"
He blinked awake and looked around, momentarily confused. "Jane, Darcy," he mumbled. "What are you doing here?"
"Making sure you're all right," Jane told him, patting his arm. "How do you feel?"
"Is he gone?" Erik asked, eyes darting around the room. "They said they took him away. He's gone, isn't he?"
"Who's gone?" Darcy asked with a frown.
"Loki," Erik whispered hoarsely. He reached out and grabbed Jane's hand tightly. "He made me do such terrible things. I didn't want to, Jane. I swear. I didn't want to."
"I know, Erik," Jane assured him. "It's alright. I know."
Erik dozed off again. Jane dragged a chair over to his bedside and sat down. "I'm going to stay with him a while," she told Darcy.
Darcy nodded. "I'm gonna try to find some coffee. You want?"
"Please," Jane said gratefully.
Darcy wandered out into the hallway and looked around for something resembling a break room. The only other person was a red-haired woman in jeans and a gray hoodie two sizes too large for her.
"Excuse me," Darcy called, walking towards the woman. She stopped and turned around to look at Darcy. She waited until Darcy caught up with her.
"Can I help you?" the woman said politely. Darcy didn't miss the woman's quick scan of her person, and the half-second lingering of her eyes on Darcy's visitor's pass clipped to the front of her sweater.
"Hi, um, do you know where I can get a couple cups of coffee?" Darcy asked. "My boss and I are visiting a friend, and we just got off a plane from Norway."
"You're visiting Dr Selvig, aren't you?" the woman asked. "You work for Dr Foster?"
"Yeah," Darcy replied, nodding. "That obvious?"
"Selvig's the only other patient in this wing," the woman said. "Come on. I'll show you the cafeteria. I was heading there myself."
"Thanks," Darcy said gratefully. "I'm Darcy, by the way."
"Natasha," the redhead replied, offering her hand. Darcy reached out to take it. The moment their hands touched, however, the scent and taste of blood assaulted Darcy like a physical blow. It took all of her self control not to snatch her hand away. But the sensation vanished when Natasha gripped her hand, replaced by the smell of cinnamon and the taste of snow.
"Nice to meet you," Natasha went on. "Glad Selvig has people."
"He's family," Darcy said, clearing her throat. "You said he was the only other patient? There's another one?"
Natasha's expression shuttered closed abruptly and Darcy backpedaled, holding up her hands. "Sorry. Let me guess. Classified?"
"You're good at this," Natasha said with a faint smile.
"We've been working with SHIELD for the last year," Darcy explained. "You get used to hearing that. A lot."
The cafeteria that Natasha lead her to was only sparsely occupied, but all of the other people were all wearing suits, in sharp contrast to Natasha and Darcy's wardrobes. Natasha didn't seem bothered at being underdressed and made straight for the coffee makers.
"I don't know how, but this cafeteria has the best coffee in the building," Natasha explained.
Darcy tasted it gingerly. "It's not terrible," she admitted. "You guys should get a Starbucks in here."
"None of their employees can pass the background checks," Natasha replied. "Let me walk you back. It's easy to get lost in here."
As they left the cafeteria with their coffee, Darcy turned to Natasha. "Can I ask you a question?"
"I can't guarantee you're cleared to hear the answer, but shoot," Natasha replied.
"Do you know the funeral details for Agent Coulson?" Darcy asked delicately.
Natasha gave her a sharp look. "Yeah. I'll get them to you," she said after a minute.
"Thanks," Darcy said gratefully. "We only worked with him off and on, but he was good people."
"Yeah, he was," Natasha agreed quietly. She nodded towards a door. "That's you. Good talking to you, Darcy."
"You too," Darcy said. "Thanks again." She bumped the door open with her hip and entered the room to find Jane asleep in her chair, head tilted back and mouth partly open. Darcy set Jane's coffee on the table next to her and curled up in the other chair. She pulled out her phone.
Joanna Lewis answered on the second ring. "Darcy?" she asked, her voice pitched high.
"Hi, mom," Darcy said with a watery smile.
"Are you okay, sweetie?" Joanna demanded. "We saw the news. I can't believe it!"
"We were in Oslo, mom. We weren't anywhere near New York," Darcy assured her, and justified it as only a half lie.
"Where are you now?" Joanna asked.
"DC," Darcy replied.
"What are you doing there?" Joanna asked.
"Work. You know how it is," Darcy told her. "Jane is the best in her field. She gets asked to consult a lot."
"How long are you going to be there?" Joanna asked. "I could come down for a few days. It's not that far of a drive."
Darcy rubbed her eyes. "I don't know. I'll ask. But I'd really love to see you."
"I'm just glad you're alright, sweetie. You know your father and I worry about you."
"I know," Darcy said with a sigh. "I love what I'm doing, though. You know that, right?"
"Of course we do," Joanna assured her. "And we're so proud of you. We just want you to be safe."
"I'm safe, mom," Darcy said. "I promise. Can you tell dad I miss him? Oh, and can he email me his apple cake recipe? Jane's birthday is next month and I promised I'd make it for her."
"I will," Joanna promised. "We miss you too, sweetie."
"Love you," Darcy said, smiling again.
"Love you too, Darcy."
Darcy lowered the phone and stared at the picture of her mother until the screen went dark. It had gotten so easy to lie to everyone close to her. She was really starting to get sick of it. Darcy took a deep breath and looked at her cup of coffee. She put it on the side table and closed her eyes.
"Heimdall, I know you can hear me," she said under her breath. "I really need to come to Asgard, so if you could undo my no-fly status, I'd appreciate it."
She didn't feel anything change, but she trusted Heimdall enough to believe that he had heard her. She dug around in her backpack until she found the bottle of melatonin supplements. As tired as she was, it wouldn't take much for her to fall asleep.
Darcy woke up somewhere cold and dark, someplace she didn't instantly recognize. She sat up with a jerk and looked around. It was a long corridor made of dark stone, interspersed with glowing golden panels. She got to her feet and walked over to one of the panels. It was actually a barrier, and on the other side was a white-walled cell. The cell's occupant caught sight of her and lunged at the barrier with a hiss. Darcy recoiled hard enough to lose her balance and she fell hard onto her ass, scooting backwards until her back hit a wall.
"What do we have here?" asked a smooth voice from above her. "You do not belong here."
Darcy spun around, raising herself up onto her knees, and looked up. The man on the other side of the barrier smiled at her like a shark approaching its prey. He had ice-white skin and ink-black hair, jade-green eyes bright with intelligence and not a small amount of madness.
Darcy lunged to her feet, her jaw slack with shock. "Holy shit," she said.
Loki kept smiling at her. "I take it you know who I am, then."