Yay, managed to update! Man, it was hard following up last chapter! Again, I have the basic skeleton of the story planned out, but filling it up is the hard part.

It's another big chapter where lots of stuff happens, but it's also my favorite so far :)

I couldn't believe I got 15 reviews for the last chapter alone, you guys are so wonderful! I never thought this story would get popular, so thank you!

also, thanks to anonymous reviewers Guest (that's very kind of you, thank you!) and coffeefreak (omg, thank you! that was quite unexpected for me! I'm really glad you like it so much!). You all make me very happy!

So that's about it, enjoy!


Chapter 6: A sugar rush is always good


Darcy was aware her phone was buzzing, but if she had to move one more muscle out of bed, she felt she'd die.

A bit dramatic, sure, but she'd never been so tired in her life. Perhaps being a savior wasn't all it was cracked up to be. She sort of wondered if Tony Stark or Steve Rogers ever took a day off from just saving stuff. Scratch that, she knew Tony Stark took days off. He seemed the type to avoid responsibility until the last moment. But what about the others? Did they ever just stay in bed and refuse to do their job?

Speaking of her job, her phone started buzzing again. Realizing it might be something work-related, even Loki-related – although she wasn't sure how she felt about that; she'd had enough of gods for one day, that's for sure – she dragged herself from her warm pillow and stumbled to her desk.

"You've reached Darcy," she answered, swallowing a yawn.

"Darcy? Did I wake you?"

"Jane! Hi, no, I was just resting."

"Oh, sorry then!"

"No, go ahead, I was gonna call you eventually, so –"

"Well, I just wanted to congratulate you on your first day. I heard all about it. It was amazing what you did out there! Everyone's talking about it. You were so brave and strong and I – Darcy I'm so sorry, I had no idea I'd be putting you in so much danger, I was so reckless! You could have been killed!"

Darcy laughed. That was Jane, all right, shifting from cheerfulness to distress in mere moments.

"Jane, relax. I didn't die. In fact, I lived to tell the tale, which is way better. No harm done."

"Of course I was relieved to hear you were safe," Jane went on animatedly, "but I can't help but feel that it was my fault –"

"Jane, stop, take a deep breath. Do you have a stress ball near you?"

Jane laughed. "I'm being serious!"

Darcy smiled. "So am I. Besides, it was kinda my fault, too. I didn't listen to the instructions. Well, let's just say there was a problem with communication in general. I'll do better next time."

"Next time? You mean you still want to do this?"

Darcy felt a strange surge of excitement in her stomach. And a pang of dread, too.

"Yeah. Sure. Definitely. Agent Darcy, remember?"

"You know I'm really proud of you, right? Not just for being a hero, but for, you know, being part of my team," Jane said.

"Aww, now don't get mushy on me."

"But please be careful in the future –"

"Yes, mom, I know," Darcy quipped.

"And always ask for help. You can come to me any time."

"Will do. You know I'm not shy about that."

Jane kept fretting, but Darcy tuned her out, knowing her scientist friend would only stop when she had exhausted her adorable nurturing instincts.

When she was sure Jane had fallen back into her calm persona, Darcy decided to bring up a particular subject that had been bugging her for the last couple of hours.

"So listen, I was wondering, are those adamantium bracelet thingies really a good idea?"

Jane paused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, not to point the obvious, but those things almost got us killed."

"No, that was due to a lack of regulation and a mishandling of the sit–"

"Jane, come on. Loki was wearing them, adamantium got into his system. The whole place could've gone up in flames."

"So, what you are telling me is he should not have to wear them?" Jane asked, her tone a bit tighter. She always got irritated when she had to speak about him and it showed.

"It seems kinda counterintuitive, doesn't it? I mean I'm sure you can find other ways to uh, restrain him. Plus, dude doesn't seem to be going anywhere. He's stuck here."

"Right, but I'm afraid that's not up to you and me, Darcy."

Darcy nodded her head. She knew that much.

"But if you had a say, would you ban those things? Sorry, not a huge fan of adamantium right now."

"Honestly, Darcy? No, I wouldn't ban them. I think they're necessary."

"Why? He's not going to –"

"I know that. But they're useful to remind him not to try anything, just in case. Odin has set the rules, but he doesn't have much regard for his adoptive father. Plus, I think he could use more humility."

Darcy tugged at the hems of her woolen fleece. She didn't know why she had brought it up. She didn't know why she was trying to make it easier for him, anyway. Perhaps, him saving her life and treating her with honesty and kindness – well, whatever translated into kindness in Loki's warped mind – had moved her to try and help him in return. But maybe this was too much help and his gesture didn't compensate for what he'd done to her in Puente Antiguo.

No, definitely not.

"So…about this log we have to keep," Darcy trailed off, changing the subject.


Darcy had promised Jane during their phone-interview for the job that she'd supply S.H.I.E.L.D with cupcakes. And today she was going to make good on that deal. Because there was reason to celebrate. She'd never won or accomplished anything this big in her life – if you left out an excellent third grade wildlife diorama – and she thought the occasion warranted it.

However, when she arrived at the Virginia headquarters that morning she found everybody was already excited about something else.

The whole place was packed with chattering visitors and agents were swarming about in a very busy fashion. Mother One, at least, looked like one of those kindergarten playgrounds, all messy and chaotic. She bumped into a bunch of agents, but they didn't even spare her a glance.

Something big was going on.

She decided maybe cupcakes would wait. She stuffed the batch she had brought in her backpack.

Using her trusty badge, she made her way, slowly, to Mother Two, careful to avoid the growing traffic. Some of the administration people were trying their best to organize visitors into groups, but she could clearly see they were in over their heads.

Okay, has the circus come to town? she thought, amused.

She was grateful when she reached Jane's floor. At least here things were relatively quiet. This time, she managed to find both her and Erik still at their offices.

"Have I got treats for you two," Darcy said with a sly smile, uncovering the cupcakes.

Erik beamed at her in his usual fatherly fashion and ruffled her hair.

"That's why you were my favorite intern," he said, munching quickly, knowing he didn't have much time left before he had to get back to work.

"Darcy, what a lovely gift!" Jane exclaimed. "But you know you can't bring foreign food with you on the taskforce, don't you?"

Darcy did not let that dampen her spirits.

"That's why you and Erik have to take this to your other scientist nerds," she said, dumping the rest in Jane's lap. She only saved two from the batch; one for Daniel Steele, her grumpy boss, and one for Agent Lara Devon, if she happened to run into her again.

"So what's going on? Why's everyone gone mad?"

Jane sighed. "You noticed that, didn't you?"

"Hard to miss."

"Well, public conference at noon. S.H.I.E.L.D is rarely open to the wide public, and when it is…well, you've seen what happens."

"Oh, public conference? May I ask what on?" Darcy asked, batting her eyelashes innocently.

Jane smirked. "You'll just have to see for yourself. Safe to say, it involves some headwork we've made on the model Tesseract."

Darcy grinned. "Wow. That sounds amazing."

"Yes, it does. It's the first time since New York that we're talking about it in an open forum. Should be pretty exciting."

"Hope I can make it."

"Don't worry. Loki is supposed to attend, too. He's part of the presentation, after all."

Well, that had certainly not been added to the schedule she had been given.

"Oh, right."

Darcy wondered. Part of the presentation? That didn't bode well.


Darcy waited patiently on platform TRANS C-89 once again, wondering how it would go with Daniel and the rest after the events of the previous day. She was a bit nervous, to be honest. What if they now expected her to act like a professional? What if they expected her to keep up the momentum? What if they –

Relax, Darcy, they're not your parents.

"Goddammit, no! How many times do I have to say it, I'm not anyone's babysitter, Michael! Because they're all a bunch of toddlers with snot for brains, that's why!"

Darcy straightened up. Daniel Steele, head supervisor, had arrived on the floor.

She put on her best smile to greet him.

"Morning, Sir –"

"Spare me, Agent, I don't need ass-kissing this early in the – oh it's you," he said, clicking his phone shut and throwing Darcy one of his trademark shark smiles.

"Agent Darcy, glad to see you're still in one piece."

"Of course, Sir, why wouldn't I be? I'm very happy to be working with you ag –"

"Sure, sure. Now listen, Agent. You had your moment in the sun yesterday, pretty darn good one, too. We all cheered for you. But today it's just like any other day. Back to the grinder. All right?"

He was already crunching a number on his phone again. He put his earpiece in.

"That's what I was hoping you'd say –"

"Now listen here, you little piece of shit, I'm paying your commission. That's right! What do you mean, which department is funding it? Doesn't matter! It's still on me!"

Darcy tried her best not to cringe as Daniel kept shouting obscenities in his earpiece.

Maybe I won't give him the cupcake right now, she thought warily.

Soon, the interior gates were opening again and the convoy of guards led Loki out of the facility.

Darcy tried not to stare too much. She only had to check once. She heaved with relief. He wasn't sporting glowing green eyes. Phew.

Their eyes met briefly as he was ushered in front of Steele. She nodded at him once, but kept her face blank. She didn't know how to interact with him, surrounded by so many guards.

She was waiting to thank him at an appropriate time.

In any case, she wasn't even sure how she'd go about doing that. How do you thank a god? It seemed a bit counterintuitive to just say "thanks a lot for saving my life". It seemed even more counterintuitive to thank someone who'd almost destroyed half of New York.

Does he even expect a thank you?

Does he – does he even deserve a thank you?

He was still wearing the adamantium circles, but she tried not to look at them.

"Why are we still standing here?!" Daniel suddenly hollered. "God, does nothing get done without me?! Into the carts, go!"

Darcy was almost manhandled towards the metal stairs that led down to – she quickly checked her badge – Garage Area M2. Goodie.

"Um, Sir, we are staying at headquarters today, aren't we?" she said, checking the schedule again, as she held on to the stair rail.

Daniel rolled his eyes.

"Do you plan we take a short walk to the new wing? It's only five miles away. I'm sure we could get there on foot if we sprint."

He didn't wait for her reply. He climbed down with the rest, chuckling to himself for the very good joke he'd made.

Jerk.

She shouldn't have worried about him expecting too much from her.

Darcy fell into step with Loki as they reached ground floor.

"Is he always this cheerful in the morning?" she asked, as way of hello.

Loki moved his eyebrows up, but otherwise did not acknowledge her presence.

She didn't mind. It was hard for him to talk with four guards surrounding him. Not to mention, he probably didn't want to talk, either way.

"I'm assuming yes," she said, looking at Daniel's back with amusement.

"So, I hear you're scheduled for a presentation today," she said, matter-of-factly, looking at her clipboard for lack of anything better.

Loki made the briefest of nods, keeping his eyes forward.

"Are you – nervous?"

She choked up on the words halfway when she realized how ridiculous it sounded.

Gods didn't get nervous, obviously.

She half-expected him to say just that, but he simply shrugged, as if it didn't matter.

"You – you don't want to do it?" she said, trying to keep up with everyone's brisk walk. She had never been very fast.

"I don't have a choice," he said quickly, in a low voice, before he was suddenly pushed up another platform.

And before she knew what was happening, he had stepped into his glass case and was being sealed shut into his cell. The very one she'd seen pulled by the carts her first morning at S.H.I.E.L.D.

Darcy stared at him in awe as he underwent the same frightening transformation.

Gripping the metal bar hard, he shut his eyes and suddenly, the glass started vibrating blue, little sparks jumping off the panes here and there.

She knew what was coming, but she didn't look away.

When he opened his eyes, they were glowing green.

"Agent Darcy!" Steele yelled at her.

One of the guards pulled her away from the scene.


A couple of agents were already waiting at the new wing. From afar, it looked like a half-finished replica of the Death Star, only not in space and not floating.

Darcy ogled at it for several minutes before hopping out of the cart.

It was times like these that she really hated S.H.I.E.L.D's discretion policy. She really wanted to get a picture in front of the Death Star.

Oh, well. How many people get to see it anyway?

Construction was well under way. The skeletal part of the building was where most of the workforce was located. If she had thought Mother One and Two were chaotic, she had seen nothing yet.

Cranes, bulldozers, JCBs and hydraulics were crawling outside the place, where workers were still excavating and setting up wires, whereas inside, engineers controlled small-sized S.H.I.E.L.D bots that did most of the manual work. It was a bit of a hazard to walk in such a warzone. And the noise was indescribable. No wonder the handful of agents who had shown up looked miserable.

Darcy tried to follow Loki as they led him inside the facility, but she was cordoned off when she tried to go up a flight of makeshift stairs.

And this time she really had to stay out.

"Don't fret. You can watch your boy on the screens in the observation rooms. There are such things, you know," Daniel teased, waving his arm towards the agents to follow him.

Darcy huffed. No cupcake for you, period.

Although she couldn't entirely stay mad at him, when he saved her a seat right next to him. She had no idea if that was a nice gesture, or just another sleazy Daniel Steele move.

She stared at the screens in wonder, not being able to locate Loki in that swarm of locusts. It was like trying to find Waldo, which was funny, since she didn't think a god with glowing eyes would be so hard to point out.

"No, sweetheart. Look up," Daniel told her, pointing at the screens above her head.

She gasped.

Loki was flying.

Well, all right, he wasn't flying per se. He was standing on the skeletal roof of the dome, but he was levitating above ground. He was moving his hands in a very controlled and elegant manner, and pieces of metal were arranging themselves at his command along his side of the roof.

"You can close your mouth shut now," Daniel remarked, smirking.

Darcy couldn't look away, or close her mouth for that matter.


Around half past twelve, the work session concluded. One of the agents presented the minutes of a report on the day's progress for the future Mother Three.

Darcy furiously took notes on her clipboard, thinking this kind of information might come in handy one day. She caught some agents looking at her funny. She ignored them. She was here to do a good job, after all.

She might not be able to draw up a report like that, but she could learn.

When they were finally out of that observation room, she expected a lunch break or some kind of time-out, but Daniel Steele was not in the mood for charity.

"Listen up, folks. We have roughly one hour to get back to Mother Two in time to prepare for the big conference. Our main star needs some grooming too," he joked, nodding his head at the now black screens.

Darcy's eyes widened. Loki had worked for four hours straight, without stop. Didn't he get an intermission or something? Perhaps gods did not need a break.

Yeah, that was it. Still, it seemed a tad…excessive.

"Anything the matter, Agent Darcy?" her supervisor asked, raising an eyebrow.

They were walking out of the new wing into the highway strip where the carts waited for them, gleaming red in the sun.

"Oh, nothing, Sir. It's just that, um, he might need a rest, don't you think?"

Steele seemed confused for a second. Then he slapped a big hand on her back and exploded with laughter.

"I forget you young people have a twisted sense of humor!"


The perks of being an Agent, Darcy remarked, was getting into places that had a 'S.H.I.E.L.D PERSONNEL ONLY' sign on the door.

She definitely appreciated the shortcuts she and the other agents took through Mother One's labyrinthine corridors. For one, no more pointless traffic. And secondly, she could pretend she was an insider who knew all the ins and outs. She could pretend she belonged.

Thankfully, Steele had not made any other remarks about her or Loki. She wondered how Jane had dealt with him. She admitted he had a kind of rueful charm. If you squinted really hard.

Loki was getting prepped for his presentation in the Globe's antechambers.

Steele told her she should find a comfortable seat in one of the Globe's staff-appointed balconies if she wanted to watch the show. Other agents were returning to their posts.

"How long do you think it will last?" she asked one of the agents who were joining her on the balcony.

"Around five hours, I should think," she replied.

"Five hours?!"

"Well, most people will leave after two."

"But, Carla, that's almost up to seven o'clock! That barely leaves any time for – Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit."

Carla raised an eyebrow, clearly amused by her distress. "Forget something?"

"I'll be right back, I just have to do something really quick," she said, moving past her at light speed and running down the corridor towards the Globe's antechambers.

She had forgotten about the goddamn log.


"God, you'd think I want to burgle a national bank or something," Darcy huffed as she was finally allowed inside the antechambers.

The guards standing outside the doors had nearly turned her inside out, checking for fake badges, forged documents, or anything that might confirm she was an intruder.

Because heaven knows, I really look like a threat.

She stepped inside what looked like a giant home cinema.

Only instead of rows of seats, there were only steps. And there was no screen. There was something better: an enormous circular glass case that offered direct view of the Globe's interior.

What was S.H.I.E.L.D's obsession with circular architecture, she wondered.

She almost missed him.

It was too dark. The only direct light came from the Globe.

He was sitting down on the lowest step, surveying the crowd through the glass.

There were two cameras directly over his head, recording his every move.

Darcy ran down the steps quickly, knowing she didn't have much time to get this over with.

"Um, sorry –" she began awkwardly.

Loki almost jumped with surprise. Darcy wondered how he had not heard her come in. She took in his appearance. He looked jittery, almost troubled. There was always something powerful about his figure and he never looked anything less than regal, even sitting hunched over like that, but even so, she could tell he was not at his best right now.

Was he upset, or just tired? Probably both.

"I know this is a bad time, but I really spaced out on the log and – could I take it now? I need to add a new entry. I don't think I'll find you later."

Loki's momentary confusion was gone.

He took out the agenda from his breast pocket and held it out to her, his expression closed-off.

Darcy muttered a small "thanks" and flipped through it briefly to check if he had written anything new. There was only one sparse entry, a couple of words. She didn't need the cipher for it. She could guess by the letters it was something about sleep. He was probably writing about his sleeping pattern.

She was about to turn around and go back up the stairs, when she stopped short and, clearing her throat, stammered quickly:

"You'll do great out there."

Loki threw her a look. He seemed to waver between replying and ignoring her. He chose the former.

"That makes very little sense to me. But you are a newborn. I suppose you don't know better."

Darcy rolled her eyes. He was back to mocking her age. As if only someone as young and naïve as her could possibly wish him good luck.

But once she let the words sink in, she realized his tone had not been mean or spiteful. It had been almost sad.

Darcy looked around her at the dark and empty antechambers. Then she looked at the Globe, teeming with noise and excitement just outside that glass.

And she suddenly saw him for the first time, she finally saw the real picture; a lonely man, trapped inside a lonely room, looking out at a multitude of people he could never reach.

You never did thank him, remember?

Darcy warred with herself.

You can't stay here with him. You can't. Besides, why should you make him feel any better? He's a god. He'll get over it. He's serving his punishment. People in prison don't get back rubs. So why should he?

"So when do you have to go on?" she asked, one foot firmly set on the step above her.

"Half an hour," he muttered, turning away from her. "You may leave."

Darcy rolled her eyes. Of course. He was giving her permission to leave.

Darcy Lewis, you are a moron.

She plopped down next to him on the step, setting the bag at her feet.

"What are you doing?" he asked, a deep frown marring his visage in half. She decided she liked this dumb look of surprise. It was much better than his arrogant sneer.

"Well, I've got nothing better to do. Plus, I'm your supervisor."

Loki tried to look back at the Globe, but her presence was unnerving.

"Why won't you leave, Agent Darcy?"

"I told you."

"Tell me the truth. What do you hope to gain from this?"

Darcy propped her chin in her hand pensively.

"Probably some kind of angry scolding from Steele. It's his specialty."

She wasn't standing very close to him, but he still felt she was invading his personal space somehow.

"Jane Foster would never sit next to me. Is this a new kind of strategy?"

"You give me too much credit. Maybe I just want to use the extra time to do my homework here instead of taking it home," she said, pulling out the agenda from her bag.

Loki rolled his eyes. "You're actually doing this."

Darcy looked at the Globe, ignoring his comment.

"That's a pretty big audience."

Loki noted how eerie she looked, with only her face lit up and the rest of her body cast in shadows. Her eyes were larger than before. He could see the Globe reflected in them. It was unthinkable for her to be here now. It was an anomaly. She was the anomaly.

"I'd like to be left alone," he repeated, his tone snappier.

Darcy steeled herself. You're doing this because he saved your life.

"No, you don't. Come on, this room gives me the creeps. Doesn't it make you feel weird?"

Loki looked at her as if he could not compute her question. What did it even matter how he felt?

"It's…adequate," he replied uneasily.

"For a horror movie, yeah."

Loki kept clasping and unclasping his hands, struggling to end this strange communication between them, but not knowing how.

"On a scale from 1 to 10, how tired are you right now?" she suddenly asked.

Loki spared her a glance.

"I don't get tired."

"O-okay. But if you could get tired, how tired would you be right now? Hypothetically speaking."

Loki stared at the glass.

"I'm not tired."

"I got tired just watching you up there," she confessed. "It was pretty amazing what you did. Never seen anything like it. And I've seen a couple of Avengers."

He felt a kind of movement in his jaw and he was shocked to find that his lips were trying to form a smile. He quickly suppressed the small surge of pleasure.

Darcy suddenly remembered she still had two perfectly good – well, slightly squished – cupcakes inside her jacket.

"Did I tell you I managed to sneak these, right under their noses?" she said, taking out the cupcakes.

She placed one next to his knee.

"I don't know if it'll help, but a sugar rush is always good."

Loki tried not to stare at the cupcake.

"Is this what you humans call food? It looks like a bug."

"It does not look like a bug," she protested. She bit into her own, enjoying the savory taste.

"You should try it," she insisted.

Loki grimaced. "I'd…rather not."

"It's not poisoned."

Loki couldn't help the smirk that quirked his lips up. "As if you could poison me."

Darcy smiled in return, but her eyes suddenly drifted to his adamantium circles, and her expression darkened.

Loki noticed her gaze.

"Are you doing this because you feel pity?" he suddenly growled, his face growing taut with anger.

Darcy's eyes widened.

"Answer me!"

Wow, okay. Moody, much? Just don't be afraid. Don't be afraid.

"N-no. I just – I'm sorry. I shouldn't have looked. Without your permission."

Loki glowered at her, but she saw the familiar confusion at the edge of his anger.

"You know, you asked for my permission to use magic. I should ask for yours."

Loki's glare turned into one of suspicion. She could have laughed if she weren't afraid to set him off again.

"Anyway," she continued quickly. "I don't like those things. And you don't like them, either. See? We have a common enemy."

Darcy smiled in what she hoped was a confident manner.

Loki's expression softened imperceptibly. "We have nothing in common."

Darcy nodded, relaxing. "Fair enough."

She turned her head back to the Globe. After a few moments, he did the same.

The tension seemed to dissipate.

They were both watching the show unfold. Loki could hear her nibbling on her cupcake. He fought to the urge to look at her.

And he fought another movement in his jaw when she remarked that "this is boring, I want my money back".


Back in his cell that evening, he collapsed on the floor, feeling every limb in his body ache from depleted magic. It would be even harder for him to fall asleep now, considering how he usually needed to have some reserves of magic left for that to happen. He had really spent himself today. But he'd be damned if he let it show when others were around. They could exhaust him till the point of no return. He couldn't die. He would regenerate. And tomorrow was a new day.

They couldn't wear him down. They weren't as patient. They would never know what it took to wait for centuries and millenniums on end. Wait and be ready.

His time would come. Escape would present itself in some opportune form. Odin could not hope to make Earth immortal. That was the only way he would be able to confine Loki forever.

But for the present moment, he thought, I am free.

He turned on his back. He sure didn't feel free, though. A god was inherently free, that was true, but he was also a cursed god and cursed gods had to carry their own weight until the end of time.

He was made of revenge and resentment, a weight particularly heavy. But he could only embrace the weight and give it satisfaction.

It was his only comfort and his only torture.

And it gave him a reason to keep going.

Loki stood wearily and walked to the only piece of furniture in the room; a desk that had been allowed for writing purposes. There was no chair.

He took out the log from his breast pocket and opened it at the latest entry.

The rubber pen was set into the desk. He had to pull hard to take it out.

There was a new entry from Darcy. He wondered what nonsense she had scribbled while they had sat together.

It didn't take long to translate.

Thanks for saving my life. I owe you one, God of Mischief.

Loki put the pen down. He stared at the words until they became a jumble of incoherent signs. Until they lost all meaning.

Then he shut the agenda and set it aside.

He went back to his corner of the room and sat down on the cold floor.

He felt something warm near his chest.

He took out the cupcake.

She hadn't noticed when he had picked it up, just before leaving the antechambers.

He set it before him on the floor. A tiny token of something outside these bare, white walls. An anomaly, something that shouldn't be here.

Just like Darcy Lewis.

He leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes.