"It still doesn't make much sense to me."

Thor glanced up from the tv, watching Stark pacing around the room yet again. The poor man had been a wreck since Darcy disappeared with his brother. Despite the fact that he knew he had no control over his brother's actions, he still felt responsible for the situation. Were it not for his faith that his brother would not harm her, he would likely be in a worse state than Stark at the moment.

"What is wrong, Man of Iron?" he queried, pausing the tv. He could see the Captain's attention perk up from the corner of the living room, glancing up from his book to the conversation.

Stark paused in his pacing, running his hands in hair. "I still don't understand how Darcy ended up with Loki without her gauntlets during the attack on the helicarrier." Turning to face the two men, he crossed his arms over his chest. "I know she is impulsive, but there is no way she would have headed there in the middle of a freaking battle while unarmed."

"That had been bothering me as well," Steve chimed in. "She never took those off before yet suddenly she didn't have them. Perhaps he disarmed her?"

Thor's eyes slowly widened as he felt a sinking in his stomach. "Neither of you had not been informed of her presence there either?"

Both of the other men slowly turned to stare at Thor. Slowly and in a quiet voice, Stark asked, "What do you mean?"

"When I went to confront Loki…" he began, nervously glancing between them. "Darcy was already there… unarmed and locked in his cell with him. I assumed the rest of you had been informed to approve that-"

"She was what." Thor's eyes widened, having never heard such a dark tone from the man. "Who in the hell put her in with that maniac-"

A feminine voice spoke up from the side of the room. "It was my idea."

Everyone turned, seeing Natasha standing in the doorway, staring them down with an unwavering gaze. "And I was the one who put her in with him."

She let out a yelp of pain as she felt herself be half thrown, half shoved forward. Collapsing to the ground, she caught herself hard on her hands, feeling pain shoot up her arms. Fighting back tears, she looked back over her shoulder as the glass door slid shut, cold eyes staring from the otherside.

"Nat?" The red headed agent did not even flinch at the crack in Darcy's voice. "Nat, what the hell? Why did you-"

"You're a security risk." The blunt reply cut off her words, and the cold eyes shifted from Darcy to the person behind her. "We can't afford to take any chances."

"So you're just going to lock me up?!" she half shrieked. Natasha did not respond: she simply turned around and started to walk towards the exit as the young girl stared in disbelief. Struggling to stand, she called out after Natasha, her voice panicked and desperate, but her cries were cut off as she collapsed again in pain from pushing up with her injured wrist.

Natasha paused momentarily at Darcy's cry of pain, but then she hurriedly left without looking back.

Darcy stared at the door numbly, absently rubbing her injured wrist. Her mind was running so fast that she couldn't think clearly. But she was sharply brought back to reality as another voice cut through the silence.

"Well now. That was rather rude of her."

Her spine stiffened, and she felt her hands begin to tremble slightly. Heavy steps approached from behind, yet she refused to look behind her. He moved into her peripheral, kneeling down next to her. A hand reached out towards her wrist, and she reflexively jerked away, pulling her wrist close, but yelping sharply at the pain of the movement.

He sighed heavily. "I have no desire to hurt you, Miss Lewis-"

"Darcy." The words snapped out before she could stop them.

"...Darcy then." Holding out his palm, he asked patiently, "May I please see your wrist?"

With a humorless laugh, she held her hands out. "Why not? Apparently I have nowhere else to go."

A slight smirk grew on his lips as he gently grasped one of her wrists. Green, shimmering light, similar to what transformed her dress, traveled over her wrists, and she let out a small gasp as his eyes flashed green. As the light faded, she noticed how the pain had subsided.

"That wrist was fractured: it should be healed now," he replied simply, as if the fact that he healed her were nothing.

"You healed it?" she asked incredulously. "How?!"

"Magic," came the simple reply, his eyes sparking mischievously. His hands ran along her other wrist, more green light traveling along her skin. "But honestly, it's a simple enough spell. This wrist was simply strained, by the way."

Her mind began to slowly mull over the fact that he so easily healed her wounds...his magic was completely unhindered and at his disposal. Quietly, she drew her hands back, slowly looking up to meet his gaze. "...you are only locked up here because you want to be, aren't you?"

He stared at her, his eyes searching hers, dissecting her gaze as if trying to uncover all her secrets. Finally, he spoke in a low voice. "It would be for the best that you do not dwell on that thought." As if trying to change the subject, he demanded, "Take off your jacket."

Her eyes slowly went wide, and then she felt an indignant rage take over. "Oh hell no! I may not have my gauntlets, but that doesn't mean I can't hit you, you entitled little-"

He cut her off with a laugh. "Calm yourself, my dear." He grinned at her, pure amusement in his eyes, not a hint of malicious intent from past encounters. "I simply wish to check your arms for bruising. This is twice now that I have witnessed SHIELD mishandling you…" The malice flickered back into his gaze, his tone growing darker. "I will certainly have to have a word with them about this…"

Huffing, Darcy narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously as she clutched her jacket close. "Even if there are a couple bruises, you better not hurt them."

Apparently she chose the wrong words. Anger flared in his eyes, and she found herself being the target of his dark tone. "You defend them? After what they did to you?"

Despite the little voice in her head telling her to back down, Darcy rose to meet the challenge in his voice. "Of course I do. They are good people-"

"Yet they treat you as if you are beneath them!" he snapped viciously, leaning in close to her. "Or did you forget that they have thrown you in here with me? A rabbit at the mercy of the wolf?"

Rolling her eyes, she remarked, "Even good people do shitty things. Just because they are being paranoid idiots right now, that does not mean that I'm going to turn my back on them."

"You are naive."

"Maybe," she quipped, staring him down with an unwavering gaze. "But what else can I do?"

He stared at her silently, appraising her. After a beat when she was beginning to grow nervous, he calmly stated, "You could join me."

Before she could even think to respond, a distant explosion rocked the ship, and she felt herself being thrown forward into his arms.

The next few days went by in a blur.

Loki had wanted to keep the drapes closed for as long as possible, but sensing how stir crazy Darcy was growing with each passing hour, he quickly gave into her wishes to see outside.

Darcy stared in wonder at what she called a "winter wonderland" outside of the window. Fresh snow fell down slowly in the light breeze, and she watched it fall with unhindered fascination. Before he could stop her, she swung the large window pane open, leaning out with her hand outstretched.

"What in Odin's beard are you doing?!" he yelled, wrapping his arms firmly around her shoulders with every intention of pulling her away.

But her joyous laughter stopped him. "I'm catching snowflakes!"

He remained still, his hands on her shoulders as she continued to lean out, attempting to catch the few stray flakes that fluttered past. "Why are you do you wish to catch them?"

She glanced up over her shoulder at him, grinning brilliantly. "I've never seen snow in person before, let alone held it."

The conversation devolved from there, and eventually, Loki found himself being led through the snow just outside his manor, Darcy bundled in fluffy layers of winter clothing which he conjured, as she excitedly chattering about the icy world around them. He could not remember a time when he was this excited about snow, perhaps when he was small, but he found himself smiling softly at her as she continued to explore.

The more time they spent together, the more he began to realize that he could not say no to her for many things. Her spirit was wild and carefree, her mind unhindered and often sporadic, a little ball of chaos stuffed inside a human body. And the more time he spent with her, the more he opened up to her. Rarely did he feel so free with anyone.

And being honest with himself, he could not remember a time when he had been this open and at ease with anyone.

Sitting around the fire on the fifth day, they sat in companionable silence, Loki reading a book while Darcy attempted to do the same, curled up next to him. Breaking the silence, she huffed irritatedly. Without looking up from his book, he asked, "What is troubling you, my dear?"

He could see her biting her lip in his peripheral, a sign she was trying to figure out how to phrase her words. She was oh so easy to read at times. "I need to get a laptop with proper encryptions set up," she finally replied.

Raising a brow, he inquired, "Oh? What for?"

Shifting in her spot, she moved and leaned her head back to where her head was in his lap, staring up at him. "I'm going through computer withdrawals, but I don't want to risk anyone tracking down your place."

He blinked in confusion, glancing back down at her. "You are almost healed: you won't have to worry about being tracked once you have returned to Stark."

Some emotion flickered across her gaze, and she quietly responded, "Oh… I forgot about that."

Wordlessly, he moved to lift up the edge of her shirt, hovering a hand over the significantly smaller wound. Just a small glimmer of light emanated from the spot, having healed tremendously in the past few days. "...you should be healed enough to return by tomorrow."

Her eyes widened a fraction. "Already?... Are you sure?"

He stared quietly at her, and he ventured to ask, "Do you not wish to leave?"

She answered his question with a question. "Do you want me to?"

"You did what?!" Stark was crossing the room, rage etched across his face, and Thor and Rodgers barely managed to intercept him before he reached Natasha. "Were you trying to get her killed?"

Natasha never flinched. "I was trying to help get Loki to drop information. He drops his guard around her."

"That doesn't mean throw her in with him at his mercy!"

"It was the only way to help build the rapport between them after the stunt Fury pulled-"

"Rapport my ass!" Tony snapped. "She's just a girl, and you threw her in with that murderer-"

"She is the one who wanted to be useful," Natasha snapped back, her voice finally raising. "She is the one who asked us to stop underestimating her. She knew the risks of getting involved with him, yet she still pushed for it anyway."

"Yeah well I'm certain that when she was thinking about 'risks' she didn't think about the fact that he might stab her-"

"Will everyone just calm down," Steve asked placatingly, stepping between the arguing pair. "None of this helps anyone. We all made our choices, and the only thing that matters is we won, and Darcy is safe. Everything will be fine."

Stark let out a bitter laugh. "Yeah. she's 'safe' and currently MIA with the God of Chaos who is still in possession of the Tesseract." Shaking his head, he added, "No offense, Cap, but you and I have very drastically different versions of the word 'fine'."

"What the fuck was that?!" she shouted, head whipping around to glance at her surroundings.

Loki held her tightly from where the blast had thrown her into his arms. Pulling her up with him as he rose to stand, he absently replied, "Things are about to get a bit… messy. You will stay by my side for now."

Practically growling, she snapped, "Like hell I will!" SHe tried to pull away, but she was no match for his grip. "Let me go!"

The ship rocked again, and she stumbled. Were it not for his grip on her, she likely would have fallen to the ground. "As much as I appreciate your spirit," he droned on in a slightly annoyed tone. "I will not risk your well being by setting you lose into this fire fight. So I ask again, Darcy... " He leaned in close, his face just a breath away from her own. "Will you join me?"

She swallowed heavily. "You know that I can't… not like this. Not with the people I care about on the line."

He sighed in a slightly defeated tone. "I cannot say that I did not expect that reply." One of his hands reached for her face, stroking cheek. "But when you wake, you cannot say that you were not expecting this reaction as well."

Before she could reply, he pressed his palm to her forehead, whispered words in a language she could not understand, and the darkness consumed her.

His hand absently stroked through her hair, not replying to her question. The air grew heavy between them, and she felt the need to try and break the silence. "What would you do if I left?"

He chuckled humorlessly. "I cannot return to Asgard, and none of the other realms hold any draw for me. And considering the crimes I have committed, I cannot exactly have a normal life, free from hiding." Seeming to think for a moment, he shrugged. "It has been a while since I explored this planet. I suppose I would just… keep running."

Her hand reached up to grab his, pulling it close as she absently traced his long fingers. She remembered back when they first met, being entranced by how sculpted they looked, like they were carved from marble. "That sounds… lonely. Running by yourself."

His hand tightened around hers. "It cannot be helped."

Her eyes moved to meet his. Shifting up, she moved to kneel in front of him while he did not move from his spot on the floor. "Are you sure?"

Stark paced away, his hands making gestures in the air as he tried to process his thinking. Why her? Why did that twisted bastard have to focus in on her? The girl was too good for him, yet he kept swooping in, stealing her away, hurting her both mentally and physically.

And Stark had been useless in protecting her the entire time.

Before the self loathing could get any worse, a heavy hand laid on his shoulder. Turning, Stark laid his eyes on Thor, a sense of understanding in the God's eyes. He was just as concerned about Lady Darcy and his role in protecting her as Stark was. Swallowing heavily, Tony managed to ask, "Are you sure he will not hurt her?"

Thor nodded slowly. "My brother is a broken man, unused to the kindness and wild nature that Lady Darcy has shown him. If you have no faith in him, for he has done little to earn it, have faith that Lady Darcy's spirit is enough to earn his loyalty."

Stark dryly laughed. "Darcy does have that quality about her. She… she grows on you."

"Aye, that she does. Know that I consider her a sister of the heart as much as I do Loki, and that my kinship to him is not clouding my judgement. if I did not think she were safe, I would not be as calm as I am now." Letting out a sad smirk, he remarked, "She is one of the few I believe could be his match."

Her eyes slowly began to open, groaning at the pain in her head. She could hear the distant sounds of gunshots and sirens, and she knew that things had gone terribly wrong.

Blinking away the fogginess of her mind, she rose to stand, watching Loki bickering with Thor… Thor who was trapped in the glass cage while Loki stood outside of it. "They think us immortal," he quipped absently, hovering around the panel controlling the cage. "Care to test that theory?"

"Don't!" she shouted, drawing his attention. "Don't hurt him, please…"

A scowl formed on his face. "You should still be unconscious." Striding towards her, he remarked, "Allow me to rectify that."

She held out a hand to block him, as futile as that was, while Thor screamed at him not to touch her. "No offense, but I don't exactly like being knocked out."

"You are not exactly giving me a choice," he remarked cooly. "You refuse to cooperate."

"Why in the hell would I cooperate?" she snapped. "You know my opinion on this stupid war of yours. I will never support it! So does that mean you are just going to keep knocking me out for the rest of my life?"

"Only until I have a reasonable place to keep you from escaping."

"Do you hear yourself?!" she asked, her voice growing hysterical as she backed away from him. "You're insane!"

His face grew darker. "You know nothing of insanity. You know nothing of what my mind truly is."

"I know it doesn't make sense!" she snapped viciously. "One second you're nice, the next you're a bloody tyrant. It's like…" Something in her brain clicked, and she looked to Thor. "What color are Loki's eyes?"

Thor stared at her in confusion from the cell while Loki's face grew darker. "What?" Thor asked as Loki advanced on her. "They are green."

Loki grabbed her arm roughly, causing her to yelp in pain. "What happened to not liking how SHIELD manhandled me?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"You are not theirs to touch."

"But I'm yours, huh? Well actually, do I belong to you or the person who controls you?"

Time seemed to freeze. "Do. Not. Speak."

"What did I say back in Germany?" Pausing for dramatic effect, she replied, "Oh yeah. Humans don't like being told what to do!"

"You do not know what you speak of-"

"I know your eyes are glowing bright blue right now, and I know that all the others that you brainwashed did the exact same thing. So I'm guessing-"

His face twisted with rage. "Stop-"

"-that whoever gave you that spear used it on you before shoving you through whatever portal tossed you out on our planet."

"Silence-"

"No! I will won't just shut up! Not until you admit-"

"You do not know what you speak of-"

"-that you are being controlled and snap out of it-"

"Darcy please-"

"- or you make me stop-"

"SILENCE!"

The roar of his voice echoed through the chamber, followed by only the sounds of his heavy breathing. He stared at her, rage twisting his face, only for the rage to be broken when she let out a small cough. Followed by another. And another. And by the third cough, he saw the stain on her lips.

He saw the blood.

And he looked down in horror as he saw the blade of his weapon piercing her stomach.

His eyes locking with hers, she quietly commented, "People always told me that my mouth would be the death of me… Guess they were right."

And Loki cried out as he collapsed to the ground with her, holding her dying body in his arms.

His eyes were vulnerable, his mask dropped as he stared her down. She had built up hope in his lonely heart, had been patient with him despite the fact that he deserved none of her kindness. And now, he allowed himself this one small bit of hope.

"Run with me."

"I think that's what I'm afraid of, Thor," Stark remarked grimly. "I'm afraid that match each other too well."

Every fiber of being burned with the resistance to the fog on his mind. His powers surged forward. He did not care about what the Other wanted. All he cared about in that moment was saving the young woman who looked at him as if he were not a monster.

He wanted nothing more than the chance to prove her right.

She smiled softly. "Thought you would never ask."

Author's Notes: We are getting so close to the second part of my story! Things will be shifting up soon, and that's when we get to the serious plot that I have planned. One more chapter, and then everything gets spun on its head. I hope y'all are enjoying this so far!

Also, I really encourage y'all to check out my other stories! I'm also considering a forth one, possibly a one-shot, with Darcy and Lady Loki. Cause yeah, I'm bi and Lady Loki is amazing. Let me know what y'all think!

Comments:

D C Joker H S: AHHHH YOU ARE SO SWEET. I'm so glad you are liking all these stories! I'm hoping to keep up the quality! Thanks for all the comments, I love it.

Guest: Thank you!

AppleistheScrubLord: Yus, justice for Darcy's iPod that's gathering dust in an evidence locker. XD