CHAPTER 2
Thanks so much for all the favorites and reviews already! So quick, I really appreciate it. It helps me to keep up with the story, I hope to take it far So without further ado, a new chapter!
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Darcy had slowly been in the process of moving all of her and Jane's research into the SHIELD base in the desert and Jane had spent the better part of the previous week trying to convince Darcy to move herself into it too. The idea of being near Jane and working on their research 24/7 was just a little too much for her so despite Jane's protests, she kept her little apartment on the outskirts of the city and chose to drive to and from work every day.
At the moment, she was sorely regretting her decision.
She nearly tripped as she flew out the door, coffee, notes, laptop, and purse in hand. She'd slept through her first alarm and only woken on the second, making her desperately late for work. Jane didn't normally mind. She worked any and all hours and didn't keep to a strict schedule, so she'd always been pretty relaxed with whenever Darcy could make it in. Nick Fury and his agents however were another matter altogether.
To keep the salary that paid for her lovely little apartment, she couldn't afford to be late. And no matter how far out on the edge of town the apartment complex she lived in was, it was still a good half hour drive out to their facility.
Maybe Jane was right.
As she focused on the drive down to the base, her mind again drifted back to her odd little lunch break from the day before.
She'd been surprised, frankly, that she'd been able to accidentally stumble onto his prison at all. Considering all the security systems in place, she wouldn't have thought she would have found a way to gain access to him. Was it safe? This was SHIELD. It had to be.
SHIELD would spare no expense to ensure the world was safe from the likes of Loki. She reminded herself of that every time his cold green eyes flashed in her mind from the day before.
She'd seen all the security precautions they'd put in place herself; yet when he'd looked at her like that, he'd seemed far too close to comfort for her. As though he could reach right through the glass into her soul.
Shaking off the shiver that ran down her spine, she pushed him out of her mind.
She had more important things to do with her day, and not enough time to get started.
4 hours later
"Miss Lewis, what are your thoughts on the matter?"
Darcy had been midway through typing up Jane's latest notes into the computer when she was pulled away from her laptop by Thor. He'd been deep in conversation with Jane, Steve, and Bruce about what to do regarding Loki, and as Darcy had focused on her work she'd tried really really hard not to listen. She didn't want to be involved. She wasn't involved. This wasn't her fight. She wasn't an Avenger.
So when he drew her into the conversation, she contemplated the topic with a frown. Her gaze fell on Jane who leaned in to her for support, and she shrugged as she tried to seriously contemplate a situation so radically far out of her own experience she didn't even know where to start.
Thor was looking over at her with a pleading look, obviously wanting her support on whatever he'd suggested. He seemed to be the only person in the world still on Loki's side.
"What matter is this, exactly?"
Steve was seated to her left. He spoke up first, his face grim. "Thor wants to find a way to release Loki while restricting his magic."
"Which is a totally ridiculous idea," Bruce chimed in. "Magic or no, he'd only just start everything he tried to pull before all over again. Except now he knows us better, knows our weak spots."
"He isn't like that!"
Steve stepped in. "Actually Thor, I'm sorry but I think he is. You look at him and see the brother you grew up with, but we can see what he actually is. There's no way I would trust letting him out of this base."
Satisfied that Thor had forgotten about her and she didn't have to involve herself in their debate, Darcy put her headphones back into her ears. Her fingers hesitated on the play button of her ipod, leaving her in silence as she watched them argue without being able to hear them.
There was no question that Thor was far too generous when it came to his brother. His major soft spot for Loki was just another of his charming, perfect qualities.
But on the other hand, he was the only one here who truly knew Loki. Surely, beneath the icy exterior, there was something vaguely human underneath?
Again, her thoughts drifted back to the day before. It had been awkward, for sure, but he'd also seemed on edge, defensive. Like a wild animal who lashed out before anything else had a chance to attack it first.
The idea of Loki as a hedgehog popped into her head and had her stifling a giggle into her hands that halted the conversation.
All eyes were on her.
"Sorry, my bad. Funny song..."
Amid the weird looks she was more than used to by now, she stood up from the table and stepped into the back room.
All day she'd been trying to focus on her thesis and completely failing. What else could she do?
Okay, fine. So she wouldn't be able to put Loki from her mind today unless she went back to see him. To see for herself if he'd been as intimidating as she'd remembered. To finally push him out of her thoughts so she could focus.
To prove to herself that he wasn't all that impressive. He was just an evil man, nothing more or less than that. And she'd dealt with her share of them in the past.
No big deal.
"I'll let you guys wrap up, I'm going to get a snack."
Without looking back, she grabbed her bag with the little sandwich and salad she'd packed up in it earlier that morning and headed down the hallway hoping no one would follow.
After several steps in silence, she relaxed and studied the hallways around her trying to remember how to get back to the cell.
She'd stumbled on it by chance the day before, and her sense of direction as it was, she might never find it again today.
Taking a breath and starting her music back up, she looked for familiar arches, panels of metal along the sides of the hallway and the control room she'd passed the first time she'd come down this way.
When she pushed into the small door and was swallowed by the darkness from the tiny hallway from before, a different kind of nervousness flooded her.
She'd managed to find it again, but she wasn't sure she wanted to any more.
Did she really want to spend her lunch break in the company of a psychopathic liar? What was it that Thor saw in him?
That little thought bugging her was what had her walking into the hallway and down to the familiar bench from the day before.
She sensed the instant he noticed her presence, the feel of his dark green eyes on her back almost tangible.
She figured he would try to mock her again, to maintain power over her by trying to put her down, just as her mother's ex had tried to do so many times. Luckily, she'd learned her way around that and how to stand up for herself.
Steeling herself, she turned to look down at him.
His eyes were focused on her like a hawk, watching her every movement as she walked over to the bench, set her bag down and made herself comfortable. And for a split second, short enough that she'd almost thought she'd imagined it, he'd looked surprised.
The expression was gone as soon as it came, and his face settled back into the stoic frown she was familiar with.
Should she greet him? Should she ignore him again?
He took the choice from her as his voice broke the silence.
"You've returned."
His voice was flat and cold, but again she felt as though he'd wanted to ask a question rather than make a statement. Way to state the obvious. She wanted to snap back at him but somehow she didn't dare.
She didn't see Loki taking too well to her sarcasm. It flew over Thor's head most of the time, and she couldn't imagine Loki would fare any better.
He would probably just scoff at her 'Midgardian ways'.
She rolled her eyes and dug her sandwich out of her bag.
He didn't take his eyes away from her the entire time, which was unsettling to say the least.
As she began to eat, she returned her gaze to him, wanting to show him that she was not afraid or intimidated by him.
His brows furrowed as she began to eat. His eyes flashed from dark to light green as she could practically see dozens of thoughts running through his head. The intelligence there was the biggest difference, she realized, between him and Thor.
Sure, their appearances were practically polar opposites, but Thor's eyes were always warm, unguarded and friendly. Welcoming.
Something about the intelligence in Loki's eyes said 'I've thought of a thousand different ways I could kill you right now and I'm just hesitating on which one to pick.'
She couldn't take her eyes off him. Determined to hold her own against him, she deliberately studied him from head to toe, trying to keep her expression as casual as she could muster with the adrenaline currently coursing through her veins.
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The little Midgardian, Darcy, held her stubborn chin high as she held his gaze with an unreadable expression on her face. Perhaps she'd come back to put on a brave face and try to act tough, knowing that no matter how scary he was, there was no way he could step outside his glass cage.
The thought only made him want to step over to her bench all the more.
She was a confusing little thing, and he was ashamed to admit that since she'd left yesterday, he'd thought of her more than once. It had only been a simple, short interaction but it still puzzled him.
When he spoke to her, she'd rolled her eyes, as though she hadn't been very impressed with what he'd said. It had been a mere statement of observation, not the question he'd wanted to ask, and he sensed that she knew it. The knowledge unnerved him. Few people saw through him so easily.
If she'd come to see him just to prove to herself that she was safe from him, then she could have simply left it at yesterday and been done with him. But she'd come back.
Why? And why was he glad that she had?
Her bold eyes held his gaze, then meandered down his form. She took her time with her stare, and suddenly his entire focus was riveted by the expression on her face.
It had started out inquisitive and stern, as though she was trying very hard to keep her frown exactly where it was, but as she took her time studying him, the façade fell away and a languid curiosity bordering on the seductive took its place.
Did she find him attractive? One side of him wanted to flush with pride and arrogance; of course she would be attracted to him, he came from gods and frost giants and was no match to the Midgardians of her usual acquaintance.
Another voice, the little one at the back of his head that had taunted him since as long as he could remember, carved a hole in his thoughts, letting doubt flood in through the cracks.
He'd never been truly wanted. Why would she be any different?
And then the rage came flooding back, so intense he saw dark spots in his vision, and fought to remain standing.
It was the rage Thanos had taken hold of, when Loki had been lost in the darkness for too long. The rage that had caused him to lose control.
He would not allow her to bring it out in him again.
Taking several harsh, deep breaths, he looked away. He tasted the defeat from the simple gesture, the taste of sulfur flooding his tongue.
When he glanced back, she was sitting and eating, staring at her food with the same unguarded fascination she'd afforded him only seconds before. She felt his eyes on him again, but when she looked back down at him, this time her expression was sheepish.
She motioned to his glass cage with a faint wave of her hands.
"I'm sorry, is this rude? I just thought to bring my lunch here, but you know…"
She waved her sandwich at him, and it dawned on him that she wanted to offer him food. The initial shock at her visit came back to him tenfold.
"They are feeding you here, right? I mean… you aren't hungry, are you?"
She truly didn't seem to know, and she cared about his welfare.
She'd all but offered him food.
Why would she care?
"Well, excuse me then. I won't mention it again."
He hadn't realized he'd uttered the words aloud until she answered him. Now he regretted them. She looked upset.
She deliberately turned away from him. He wanted to think of something to say, some way to apologize. The foolishness of his current train of thought hit him. Apologize? To a little Midgardian intruding on his privacy for her own amusement?
He wanted to pound on the glass, but he contained his frustration. Like his anger, jealousy and rage, they festered deep inside, rarely ever bubbling up to the surface.
He wanted her to leave.
"No, you know what? I will mention it again."
She pulled him out of his thoughts yet again, and he turned back towards her. She'd stood up, moving closer to him with one hip cocked to the side to assert her stance.
"Regardless of what you've done, I don't believe in torture. Have you been getting food?"
Her determined pout seemed to say she'd march right up to his captors and demand a meal for him if need be. For the first time since he'd been captured, a smile free of bitterness crept up on his face. He tamped it down instantly.
"I am being fed."
Her body relaxed, and she nibbled on her bottom lip as she contemplated the information. She didn't seem to be aware that the action made her lips fuller and richer in color. She was quite beautiful for a Midgardian.
"Well, good. That's good."
She sat back down on the chair and looked around the room awkwardly, her fingers picking at the food she'd left sitting on the bench beside her.
When she finished eating, she moved to pack up her things.
Suddenly the reason for her coming didn't matter as much. She was about to leave, and she might not come back. Midgardian or no, she'd been his only reprieve from boredom, Thor's obnoxious attempts at salvation and the questioning of the SHIELD operatives who liked to poke and prod at him whenever they could.
Having someone around who simply kept him company and cared whether or not he was hungry was different. Weak as he was, he wanted more.
"You work with Jane Foster."
She turned to him at his statement, her eyes flashing as her expression changed from relaxed to suspicious.
Wrong topic choice. She obviously assumed he was trying to obtain information, to find a way out or concoct any other plan.
The fact that he wasn't intending any of the above was not lost on him.
"I do."
He needed something neutral and safe to keep her talking.
"Do you like it?"
His first proper question. Those expressive eyes of hers lit up again as she gave it some thought. Trying to decide how honest she could be with him? As much as he didn't like it, he respected her caution. She was a smart woman.
"I didn't at first, but it's grown on me."
"You are a scientist like her?"
"A scientist? No, not at all. I'm more like an assistant, I help to keep her organized, to record everything and report stuff."
What else to ask a Midgardian he knew nothing about?
Silence hung in the air for another moment before she picked up her bag and turned away. Out of ideas, he had no choice but to ask.
"Will you come back?"
Her head tilted and her eyes flashed back to his with a glint.
"Maybe."
"Have lunch with me again."
This time, her face lit up in a wicked grin. Before he could ask what that meant, she was out the door and gone from his sight.
