Your reviews warm my heart guys. Seriously. Also: the end of this chapter will be explained more in the beginning of the next chapter.

Enjoy :D


Darcy had never been on a private jet. Hell, she'd only been on a plane three times in her life, including when she flew over from America for college. Sitting in Stark's private jet, listening to some classy music he had playing, drinking a glass of wine, Darcy couldn't help noting how damn posh she felt. Too bad she was still dressed like she was in high school gym class.

Stark had explained to them that he'd be paying for everything they'd need, including new, more classy clothing. After the attack earlier, he was treating this more like an undercover mission and less like an archeological exploration. He wanted them to appear as socialites while in Rome, that way they'd be able to attend the gala he was now throwing at the Pantheon in a few days. Tony had his assistant Pepper planning it all out from New York; it would be in honor of some bullshit Pepper and Stark were making up as they went along. He figured they'd be able to look around more thoroughly if it was during a party he was throwing instead of during museum hours.

Darcy put her feet up on Jane's leg across from her. Jane made a face, to which Darcy responded by sticking her tongue out at her. She took a sip of her champagne, with her pinky out of course, and looked out the window at the Mediterranean Sea.

One thing she was very glad about was that the gala would be Saturday night, which meant they had the rest of today, all of tomorrow, and most of Saturday to do whatever they wanted. She had never been anywhere besides southwest United States, New York City once, and then Cambridge. Now, she was on this huge journey in Egypt and Rome and who knows where else. She'd get to explore Rome for almost two days, maybe even with Loki, and Stark would insist on paying for all of it. Apparently, Stark was a multi-billionaire who didn't mind sharing his money. Darcy had never been one to accept handouts, but this was a special case.

Darcy and Jane were also supposed to go shopping for their dresses and various accessories the next day. That's probably every girl's dream: unlimited shopping spree in Rome. Well, Rome probably isn't the first city on everyone's list as far as shopping sprees go, but it's up there. Whatever. It's still fucking awesome.

The plane landed just around five o'clock local time. They were at a small local airport just outside the city so Stark could avoid the press. Apparently, paparazzi care a lot about him, simply for the fact that he's rich.

There was a large black limousine waiting for them steps from the jet. All of their bags were unloaded for them into a separate car.

"Damn, Stark," Darcy commented as a man opened the limo door for her.

"You like that? Wait 'til you see where we're all staying tonight," he replied. Darcy dropped it at that, wanting it to be a surprise.

They were all driven to an upscale designer store where Stark instructed them all to pick out a couple outfits for while they were in Rome. Jane, Nat, and Darcy went to the second floor of the women's section, where more day-to-day women's clothing was kept.

"This is just a white V-neck and it's five hundred dollars." Jane said, putting that back very carefully.

"If Stark's paying, I'm going all out," Darcy said from a few racks over, holding three complete outfits and a purse already.

"At least try them on first," Jane muttered before moving on to a different rack.

"Or you could get one in each size," Nat said, not looking up from the rack of extremely expensive leather jackets. Darcy smiled and grabbed the next size up and down of the shirt she was looking at.

Everybody eventually regrouped by the register and Stark paid with one swipe of a credit card. The total was more than what Darcy would ever see at once in her entire life.

After everyone changed in the dressing rooms into their socialite attire, they filed back into the limo and headed into the city. Stark had the driver take the scenic route, passing a few of the landmarks on the way. Darcy tried to make a mental list of all the places she wanted to visit before they left, but the list got too long very quickly.

They arrived at an upscale hotel (i.e. more money per night than Darcy made in a few months) and walked right in the front door. Stark rented two suites, in addition to one regular room (Nat and Clint insisted).

"What do you think the chances are they're fucking each other?" Stark said to Darcy quietly.

"I don't know, but if I were you, I wouldn't bet against that. And you're you," she said.

"Fair point. I guess we'll just let them go to their room and maybe we'll see them again before Saturday night,"

"I wouldn't count on it,"

The two suites Stark got shared the top floor of the hotel, one a two-bedroom and the other a three-bedroom. Stark, Bruce, and Steve would share one and Darcy, Jane, Thor, and Loki would take the other. When the elevator doors opened on the top floor, the bellhops led each group separate ways and opened their doors for them.

The room in front of Darcy was something out of a movie. They were only in the connecting room between bedrooms and this was about the size of her apartment. It was decorated with furniture that looked like it fell out of the 1700's or a Martha Stewart magazine or both.

Darcy took her bag from the bellhop and half ran over to one of the bedrooms. It was absolutely stunning. The bed was whatever the next size up from king was. There was an antique desk with the most comfortable looking chair she had ever seen and a small couch beside the window and a huge TV and so many other things Darcy could barely take in. She dropped her bag by the foot of the bed and jumped onto the comforter, sinking in slightly after landing. She could definitely get used to this.

"Darcy?" Jane called from the other room.

Darcy rolled out of bed and drudged back into the other room.

"I think we're in the wrong room,"

"What makes you say that?" Darcy asked.

"This one only has two bedrooms," Thor said, glancing at his brother for half a second. Loki was across the room, distracted by the weird centerpiece on the table.

"I thought one of the suites was a three-bedroom," Darcy aimed that more at the bellhop, who was still standing by the door.

"Mr. Stark said for him to be lead to the three-bedroom suite," he replied with very impressive English but still a slight Italian accent.

"He did, now?" Darcy said, shaking her head.

"Darcy," Jane warned, shaking her head.

"What?"

"It does make sense for them to have that room," Jane lowered her voice.

"Stark did it on purpose. I know what he's up to," She stormed out of the room and down the hall before Jane could say another word.

"Stark! Open up!" she yelled as she banged on the door.

"Darcy, are you all right?" Steve was the one who came to the door. Of course, Stark. He knew I'd come for him. I bet he just did this to piss me off. Jackass.

"I'm fine, but Stark might not be in a minute or so," Darcy brushed past Steve (somewhat rudely, but she was angry and he was in the way at the moment) and looked around the room carefully. "Which room is his?"

"On the left," Steve said, not sounding as scared as Darcy thought he would.

Darcy kicked open the door upon reaching it. Sure, it was cracked open, but she wanted to make an entrance.

"Well hello to you too," Stark said, lounging on his bed.

"Why do you guys get the three-bedroom suite?" she blurted.

"Well, my dear Ms. Lewis, there are several reasons why I gave you guys the smaller suite," He stood up after speaking, stretching a little.

"Explain."

"Fine." He dramatically sighed. "For one thing, Jane and Thor will be dancing the tango and will definitely be sharing a bed, so no matter who has the smaller room, someone's sleeping on the couch. Now, seeing what I saw earlier today, chances are you and Romeo will also be hitting it home pretty soon as well. Ergo, you guys get the smaller room. Also: my money, my rules. And my rules state you guys get the smaller room."

Darcy didn't really have a good response for that. She put her hands on her hips and tried to think of a comeback, but nothing clever came to her.

"I am not 'hitting it home' with Loki," she eventually said, glaring at him.

"And my name's not Tony Stark. We're not in Rome. You're not still complaining about something inevitable."

"You walked in at the wrong time."

"Was there a part when you two said 'let's make out on a pornographic level just to fool whoever walks in on us into thinking we're fucking each other?'"

"No, but…" she trailed off, knowing Stark was going to win this fight.

"If you think about it, I'm kind of doing you a favor."

"Whatever." She turned and stormed out of the room, going back to her own suite.

When she entered her suite again, she opened the door to see Thor and Jane looking expectant and Loki looking comparable to a lost puppy.

"What'd he say?" Jane all but demanded.

"He said that we have this room because he paid for it," Darcy said carefully. Jane threw up her hands in exasperation, turning and going into her bedroom. Thor, looking concerned, ran after her to do damage control.

"I'm sorry," Darcy began to say to Loki.

"It's perfectly fine. I'll sleep on the couch. It does actually look very comfortable." He smiled reassuringly. "Now, earlier I saw you making eyes at the Trevi Fountain. I think we can fit that in before we both pass out from exhaustion," They both grinned.

"I definitely think we can squeeze in an hour or so of sight-seeing before we keel over," she agreed, turning for the door.

"Sounds good to me," Loki said as he grabbed his jacket.


That night, Darcy had just finished taking the best shower of her life in the shower that was about twice the size of a standard shower. The hotel's soaps were the greatest smelling things she had ever smelled. Everything about this hotel was perfect. Well, except the number of beds. She still felt kind of guilty about that.

In that moment, Darcy made a rash decision. She'd already made a few of those today, so what was one more in that pile?

After Darcy put on the one nice pair of pajamas she brought (probably a little on the skimpy side, but hey, they were comfortable), she went to the door leading to the main room. She paused for a moment, taking a second to build herself up, and then finally grew a pair and opened the door.

Loki was lounging on the couch, reading some papers, not noticing her standing in the doorway.

"Loki?" she said, catching his attention. He looked up at her, setting his papers aside.

"Yes?"

"Would you like to sleep in here?"

He seemed to be contemplating something, but after a moment stood and walked over to her.

"Are you sure?" he asked as he approached, stopping in front of her. She answered by grabbing his hand and pulling him into the bedroom.

This was probably stupid, but he had invited her to sleep in his tent, so she was returning the favor. Sure, a couch in a fancy hotel wasn't exactly the same as outside in the middle of the desert, but whatever. It was kinda the same, if you squinted your eyes.

The door swung shut behind them, Darcy dropping Loki's hand just after. The room was peacefully quiet, the only noise coming from the street outside and a few drips of water from the shower every once in a while. The only light in the room was the lamp beside the bed, creating a low glow throughout the room. Darcy watched as Loki took a moment to take in the grandeur of the room, finally stopping at the bed.

"There's only one," he commented, looking confused.

"Well, yeah. If there were two, you'd have been in here hours ago."

"Darcy, I'm perfectly fine on the couch. I don't want to force you into anything-"

"You're not forcing me into anything," she said, stepping to him, putting only a few inches between them.

He opened his mouth to respond, but something came over Darcy in that moment and she just kissed him, stopping whatever words that were going to come out. It took him a second to respond, but finally Loki grabbed either side of her face, holding her there. They both seemed to have a hard time believing what was happening.

This was much different than last time. Where that was desperate and eager and touchy and a last attempt to get feelings across, this was slow and tender and finally. That was a good word for it, Darcy decided. It was definitely one of the main things she was feeling right now.

She hadn't realized it until it already happened, but they were now lying back onto the bed, Loki's weight on top of her. A small smile came across her face, her heartbeat elevating, feeling an overwhelming feeling of finally.