Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers or Thor. Nor, sadly, do I make any moneys from the posting of this fanfiction.

Hey! Hope today is being as awesome as you all are. Here's the next one shot. Enjoy.

…

A Slow Motion World

Darcy woke up to a feeling of dullness. She felt like a sloth in a world full of road runners. Getting up, she got herself an orange juice and sipped on it, as she went about getting ready for the day. But as not even a shower seemed to wake her up, she went over to Jane's room and knocked on the door softly.

Jane was there soon enough, but Darcy couldn't understand what she was saying. She was speaking too fast, she reasoned. It wasn't until a minute later that Jane realized that something was wrong with Darcy when all the younger woman did was blink at her.

"Caffeine crash?" she asked slowly.

Darcy nodded. "Slow-mo world…Very Six Million Dollar man…Weird." She hugged Jane with the sigh, "Pretty day."

Jane hugged her back. "Yes, pretty day. Go back to bed, Darcy."

"Okay." She drifted off, but ended up changing directions, saying, "Wrong way."

…

Loki left the medical floor and went back over to the labs, expecting to see Darcy back to work. When he found that wasn't the case, he frowned and went over to Thor's paramour, Jane Foster.

"Where is Miss Lewis?" he asked, still looking around. "I wish to apologize for what happened yesterday."

"She's in bed," she told him. "It's part of what she goes through when she gets super caffeinated. She'll be useless to work today…" she looked up from her work to find that Loki had already left.

…

Loki found Darcy staring up at her ceiling with a beatific smile on her face. Her eyes drifted over to him and her smile grew.

"Pretty day," she breathed.

Frowning he asked, "What does that mean?"

"Everything is so…pretty," she told him, moving over a bit and patting the bed next to her. "Let me show you."

He went over and laid down next to her looking up at what was only a white ceiling. Darcy moved over and rested her head on his shoulder, letting out a long sigh.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

"What is?"

She blinked at him. "You can't see it?"

"No," he murmured. "Tell me what it is that you're seeing."

Smiling she said, "Why everything, of course."

It was as he was just looking at her that she picked up his hand and pointed it up towards the sky. "The first layer is rather plain, I must admit, but not everything is perfect on the surface. But go past it all, past the building to the sky. It's a lovely shade of blue that isn't crystal blue, but it's not baby blue either. And the clouds are wonderfully fluffy and white, don't you think?"

He looked to where she said and true enough, they were all these things and more.

"But then you go just a bit further out and there's a solar storm today!" She smiled. "No one will take note of it, not really. Not unless they have trouble with their electronics." Her eyes went dreamy. "It's making such pretty colors, don't you think?"

Loki looked and knew without a doubt she wasn't making up what she was describing to him. "How can you see that?"

She shivered, whispering, "My mother taught me when I was a little girl how to not see everything." She blushed. "Oh I should say not react to everything I see." She shivered again. "Saw them coming from miles away…saw them killing the men that day…Saw them…saw them all die…" Her eyes squeeze shut. "But they couldn't see me." Her eyes popped open and she found herself looking into his jade green eyes. "Can't we watch the pretty things, please?"

"Of course, magpie," he murmured, as his arms wrapped around her. "Anything you want."

…

Jane went to the apartment for lunch to check on Darcy and found her staring up at the ceiling with Loki speaking to her quietly.

Frowning she stepped into the room. "Hi guys. Have you had lunch yet?"

"No," Darcy told her. "We're watching a meteor shower happening. But as soon as it finishes, Loki promised to show me how to eat with chopsticks properly."

He smiled, telling her, "It was you that promised me to do that."

"Oh," she breathed. "Okay." She looked over to Jane. "I wanted to introduce him to Asian food. What should I start with?"

Jane thought it over. "You had sushi yesterday."

"Yes."

"How about Korean barbeque today?"

"Brilliant!" she cheered, looking back over to Loki. "It's wonderful stuff Korean barbeque. But someone else has to cook it, as I always manage to burn it." She blush. "I don't do it on purpose. I swear. It's just so boring! And then I get to talking…" she smiled. "I'm a bit of a chatter box."

"Part of your charm," he assured her.

"Thank you!" She hugged him. "Janie, he thinks I have charm. And here I thought it was the drugs the other people were on and not something to do with me."

That had Jane laughing quietly. "Have you gotten any rest at all?"

"Not much," she admitted. "Pretty day, Janie. Very pretty day!"

"Okay, Darce, just remember you have to eat sometime soon or you'll get sick to your stomach, okay?"

"Okay," she replied.

Jane moved to leave and was about to say one last thing when she smelled something tasty. She turned back around to them and found Loki crooning to Darcy, as he was doing his best to see that she was fed her favorite finger foods.

"Once you've eaten, I'll show you the most beautiful crystal rainbow," he murmured.

Darcy's face went dreamy, as she nibbled on a French fry. "Where?"

Picking up a chicken wing, he feeding it to her. "I'll show you after you eat a bit more, magpie."

She chewed and swallowed before asking, "Okay, but can I take a nap first?"

"You know you can," he assured her.

Quietly Jane left them to whatever it was that they were doing. As long as Loki was taking care of her, she didn't have anything to worry about. Right?

TBC…

…

And another one shot has bounced into the Internet. Thanks for reading. Take care and have yourselves a bright and beautiful day.