Chapter Eleven

In the interest of appearing Midgardian, Loki was forced to restrain himself from tightening his hold on Darcy and disappearing with her from the offensively coloured building.

It would do no good to call SHIELD's attention again.

The dark-eyed Greene-Taylor surveyed the group as they calmly walked out, as if Stark didn't have his iron hand inches away from taking out his torso. Loki curled his fingers into the shaking Darcy as he turned away.

The man's gaze reminded him uncomfortably of his own not so long ago.

The group stepped, exhausted, into the elevator, Stark still in his full armour. His visor lifted with a small hum. Silence hung heavily over the group, until Lady Pepper broke it with a small cough.

"I apologise for what just took place. Everyone in this lift can have the rest of this week off. The police will be getting a detailed report," her voice faded.

Silence fell again.

"Iron Man freakin saved my life," one of the security guards breathed as the doors opened in the Greene Software foyer.

The odd looking group made their way across the foyer, ignoring the gawkers. The human police had already begun to arrive in their brightly coloured vehicles. One jogged up to Stark as they calmly stepped through the rotating glass door.

"Mr Stark?" He asked.

"Floor twelve," Stark answered. "This device caused the damage. A Stark prototype from about five years ago. Limited run." He held up the small cylindrical weapon. "A few went missing during the Battle."

Loki tried not to flinch at the reminder.

As the Midgardians in blue stormed the building, they moved towards the waiting cars. The Man of Iron flicked a switch and stepped out of his suit. The suit closed and the billionaire muttered something to the Jarvis machine and the entire thing took off, streaking across the sky towards the Stark Building.

It concerned him that Darcy had not yet said a word. He pulled her closer, and she didn't protest. Very concerning.

"I believe my Darcy is going into shock," his smooth voice belied the anxiety boiling in the pit of his stomach. "I wish to return her to her apartment."

Tony's worry over his own Pepper overrode his own judgment and he nodded. "Fine. Just- make sure no one sees you, okay?"

Loki inclined his head in acknowledgement and created a double of his 'Edward' persona and Darcy, making their real selves invisible. He watched the doubles silently enter the cars as Darcy shook in his arms. Then he tightened his grip and took them back to Darcy's tiny abode.


Tony answered his mobile with a terse, "Yes?"

He hadn't let Pepper's hand leave his grip during the whole trip back to their penthouse in the Stark Building. He had kicked himself when Loki left, only realising after the god and Darcy had gone that he could have asked for a similar 'beam me up' treatment for himself and Pepper.

Well, the human way will have to do for now.

The detective on the other side of the line was prompt in his explanation. "Daniel Greene-Taylor was not in the building, Mr Stark. We have issued a warrant for his arrest," he continued over Tony's furious 'what?' "He won't get far."

"Update me within the hour," Tony snapped. "Greene-Taylor is now a threat to the safety of the city. He needs to be found quickly, and I need to make sure that happens."

"We will, sir."

Tony hung up with a sigh of frustration, dropping his head back onto the seat. "Tony," Pepper said softly. He whipped up his head.

"You okay, sweetheart?" He lifted his unattached hand to stroke the side of her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just needed a moment, there."

"I'm so sorry, Pep. I seem to be in the habit of attracting these types of-"

"Super-villains?"

He coughed. "Yeah. Them."

She chuckled. "You are a superhero, Tony." The superhero raised an eyebrow at her. "It's true. We're living in a comic book."

Tony laughed reluctantly. "I can't deny that. Doesn't help that you get pulled into these super-ass-ups with me though."

"You and me," Pepper said, "we make it through."

"Yeah, we do, don't we?" Tony replied softly.


Darcy was vaguely aware of what was going on around her, but was unable to contribute. Which was a shame, really, because she really wanted to know how the hell Creepazoid got his hands on that Sonic Screwdriver and how the hell he escaped a building twelve floors up.

Instead, she just stood there and shook a little more.

Classy.

At least she was warm. And the warmness smelt really good. Taking a deep breath and opening her eyes, she looked around in confusion.

"How did I get here?"

Loki's gorgeous face filled her vision. "Darcy, love. I've brought you to your dwelling."

She blinked. "That's nice of you."

The corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. "It's no trouble on my behalf, love. You may have a bit of shock, so I want you to dress warm and go to bed. I shall bring you a beverage to help you sleep."

She smiled back, a bit dazed. Touching her nose to his, she whispered, "Oh-kay." And tapped his cheek twice with her fingers to emphasise the syllables.

"Good," Loki said, straightening to his full height. "Off you go." He pushed her gently towards her bedroom.

She was still trying to figure out why she was suddenly dressed in her warmest hoodie and leggings when Loki entered her room, baring a fancy mug of- something Asgardian, she supposed.

"You know," she started, "I was gonna ask you stuff the other night. About my godly parents and stuff-"

"We will talk on that soon, love. Here, make sure you drink all of this."

Darcy took the cup from his hands and lifted it to her nose for a somewhat delicate sniff. "What is this?"

"A gentle sleeping draught of my own design."

"More magic?"

Loki sat on the edge of the bed. "Yes, more magic."

She took a sip of the hot liquid and hummed approvingly. "That's good."

Loki was staring at her intently. Even in her befuddled state, she began to squirm under his gaze. "What?"

"You're spectacular," he blurted.

What?

"Really?" Darcy drawled, raising an eyebrow. Loki's brain suddenly seemed to click onto what he said, and his pale skin flushed with colour. He coughed awkwardly and stood.

"Yes, well. You are also rather fragile and prone to leaping into danger," he blustered, looking everywhere but at her. "I dislike it immensely."

Darcy's eyes were beginning to droop, but her head was finally clearing from the fog of shock. "I'll have you know, my life was pretty normal until your brother dropped from the sky. Not my fault, dude."

"It was not my- oh. Yes. That may have been my fault."

She chuckled. "I shouldn't laugh. You very nearly killed us all with that Robot of Doom."

His eyes widened. "You were there?"

"Ah huh," she nodded and took another sip. "I pretty much just went with the run-and-hide scenario, since I thought I was human and all."

"By all the Norns," Loki breathed. "I could have killed you before we even met."

Darcy slid down against the pillows, feeling very zen about the whole Puerto Antiguo situation. "I'm sure you would have found an equally sassy baby incubator had I been killed."

Loki rounded on her incredulously. "How can you say-" Darcy waved the mug in his face. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh. This shit is sweeeeet," she elongated the last word with a giggle.

He plucked the mug out of her hands and ignored her indignant 'hey!'

"I was enjoying that, you God of Mug Stealing!"

"And you should well and truly be asleep by now, Goddess of Sass. Go on, lie down." He pulled the blankets out from under her and adjusted her pillows.

"Goddess of Sass. I like it," she smacked her lips together as if tasting the words. "Maybe my real mom was the Goddess of Smackdowns or something. Do you have a Goddess of Smackdowns?"

"I shall check the Divine Register."

"There's a Divine Register?"

"Of course there is," Loki replied, straight-faced.

Darcy hesitated then burst into drunken laughter. "Liar!" She snorted gleefully.

"I have been accused of that occasionally."

"Oh, just occasionally?" Darcy imitated his accent badly.

"It is so hard to convince people of your sincerity when one of your titles is 'The God of Lies', love." He pouted, then gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Sleep now."

Darcy was feeling very comfortable now, her tongue most of all. "Y'don' even love me," she mumbled into her pillow, "'s why d'ya keep callin' me 'love'?"

Loki stopped breathing. This was the moment to tell her. He straightened and contemplated her bed chamber wall, then ran a hand through his dark hair. He took a deep breath, steeled himself and answered, "Because I think I always have."

Darcy's reply was a soft snore.


Tony's response to Loki's reappearance on his penthouse balcony was- not as manly as the billionaire would have liked. Unless manly was now defined as a short, sharp shriek coupled with throwing the bottle of water he was drinking out of at the god, then clutching his chest, panting for good measure.

"I hope," Loki sighed, "that one day I will be able to greet Midgardians without having beverages or punches thrown at me." He shook the water off his hands and magicked the dampness out of the black suit he was wearing.

"Fat chance, Mr Cullen," Tony retorted, catching his breath. "You still top the polls for Earth's least popular sparkly vampire."

Loki stared at him blankly. "Sometimes I don't understand a word that comes out of your rather significant mouth. We are both speaking Midgardian English, correct?"

Tony favoured him with a droll look. "Your cover is Edward Cullen and you have no idea who that is?"

"I based my double on less than five seconds of your YouTube," he sniffed. Then paused. "Wait. Is this human significant?"

Tony quickly debated coming clean with the god. "Nah, you're all good, Lokes."

"Do not call me Lokes."

Loki turned and followed the other man into the light-filled living area. "So, Livin' la vida Loki," Tony called back, "I've kept that drink on ice for a good two years now, and I need to restart the old ticker, thanks to your divine intervention." He held up a bottle of whisky and gave it a little shake in Loki's direction. "Yes?" He asked expectantly.

Loki covered his surprise at the offer with a short nod. "Although, Stark, it is barely acceptable to be drinking at this hour."

Tony snorted, "Of all the Midgardian customs to remember..." He poured a fingers worth of the golden liquid into the glass and held it out. Loki took it carefully in his long fingers, still not quite sure why Stark had not yet yelled at him for something.

The billionaire held up his own drink with a big grin. "Skul!"

Loki felt a smile crack his face, and lifted his own drink up. Taking a small sip, he looked curiously at the other man. Tony raised a brow and lowered his glass with a small sigh.

"You might be wondering why the hell I'm being so nice?"

"The thought had crossed my mind."

Tony hesitated, then moved out from behind the bar, crossing the floor to the sunken lounge room. Flopping into the leather couch, he propped up his feet on the glass coffee table and cocked his head at the god.

"I'll make it simple. I called for help. You helped. That-" he pointed at Loki with his drink filled hand, "makes it simple."

Loki lowered himself into a chair opposite. "Nothing about you, Stark, is simple."

"You've changed." Tony held his hands up in surrender, the remaining whisky sloshing dangerously to one side. "Loathe as I am to admit it. You appeared. Helped me. Saved two people very important to me." He paused. "Didn't kill anyone. An important point, seeing as there was some very strong provocation at the time."

Loki narrowed his eyes at him. "There must be something else, surely. You sent Thor to find Darcy and myself when SHIELD cornered us. That was before that Daniel-creature's attack."

Tony smirked and took another sip. "That's for me to know, and you to never find out."

Loki pinched his nose between two fingers. "Fine. Just don't set the Green Beast on me again."

"Only if you refrain from tossing me out the window."

A few hours later the god and the billionaire were shouting again.

"All I am saying," Loki growled as he slapped the side of the black controller a couple of times, "is that it is unrealistic for healing points to be gained by picking them up from the ground. I have been in many battles-"

Tony leaned over and snatched the black plastic from the other man's grip. "Stop that! Hitting it won't help. Look," he said, pointing at the large screen in front of them. "This is a game, Lokidoodle. Surely you've played some godly games before - they're not supposed to be realistic."

"This is obviously a war game, built to prepare younglings for the battle field. Having them believe that they can restore their health by simply picking up a rogue bottle-" He snatched the controller out of Tony's hands again.

Not sure how it came to playing screen games with the Man of Iron, Loki was startled out of the conversation by the vibrating of his, formerly Darcy's, cellular device in his suit pocket. Pulling it out deftly, he hid a grin at the photo of his Darcy smiling in her sleep.

Lady Darcy may have protested at him watching her sleep - his love yelling 'Stalkery!' echoed in his mind - but she makes the most adorable-

Right, he should answer the phone.

He stood and said, "Hello, love."

Tony immediately stopped wrestling with his plastic game controller and blatantly eavesdropped. Throwing the man a dirty look, he moved away and smiled as Darcy snorted.

"Yeah, yeah. Hi, babe," she replied dryly.

"Are you still at work?" He asked, curious to see if she was below his feet.

"Ah-huh, yep. Just on a break."

He warmed at the thought of her being so close. He hummed happily, realised Stark could hear him, then tried to cover it by clearing his throat. Oh, he had it bad. He pressed his lips together tightly. Very bad.

"What occasions the call, my Darcy?"

She hesitated. Loki noticed that Tony was already bored with their conversation and had sunk into the comfortable settee, feet up on the leather cushions, the large screen turned off.

Loki began to panic. "You are still able to go on our date tonight," he asked quickly, the statement turning into a question.

"Oh. Oh, yeah. That's cool, dude. Still on!"

He let out a relieved breath. "Of course," he replied confidently. "You will not be disappointed, love."

She laughed again. Apparently, his Darcy thought it was hilarious that he was taking her out on dates.

"Um," Darcy paused. He could hear her light breathing through the phone line.

"Love?"

She let out a long sigh and said reluctantly, "We kinda need to talk." Loki's heart froze.

"Talk?" That came out a little too high for his tastes. He consciously lowered his voice again with a casual clearing of the throat. "What about?" Tony, who had almost been entirely devoured by the soft corner sofa, sat up again with extreme interest, hands clutching the backrest as he leaned over to peer at Loki.

Ignoring the other man with a curl of his lip, Loki heard her stutter nervously, "Um. We- We can talk tonight, 'k? S-See you then." She hung up.

She. Hung. Up.

Of all the cruel, perverse, maddening things she could have done - She said THAT then hung up.

He glared at Tony as the man began to chortle. "Oh, Lokes. You are so-"

"Do NOT say it, Stark-"

"So screwed. What the hell did you do?"

"I did nothing. I am doing everything right. Everything!" He hesitated. "I'm fairly confident that I am doing everything right. I've even stopped talking to her breas- Never mind." He groaned, head dropping back on his long neck. "She cannot leave this hanging over my head like the bloody Sword of Damocles-"

He began to pace, his long legs eating up the distance from one wall to another. "Will you stop cackling, you noisy, dim-witted troll!"

Tony had fallen off the sofa into an inelegant heap on the floor, uncontrolled in his laughter, tears rolling down his face. Loki marched over to him and loomed over the helpless billionaire. "Do not think our temporary truce will keep me from removing your small intestines through your nostrils," he snarled.

Tony waved him back. "Oh, oh-" he gasped for breath, wiping away the tears with the heels of his palms. "Oh, this is GOLD!" He looked at the God of Mischief's unhappy face and collapsed into giggles again.

"Stop it!" The command sounded suspiciously like a whine.

Tony gleefully imitated him from the floor.

"I don't have to put up with this," Loki huffed. "I refuse to wait for tonight-"

"Oh- oh, no you don't!" Tony gasped from Loki's feet. "You do not. Ever. Push a woman into a fight before it's absolutely impossible to avoid it."

"Something is obviously weighing on her mind, Stark. It would be better it we cleared the air sooner rather than-"

A distant boom and the shuddering of the ground drove both men to silence.

"What was that?" Tony asked, turning to the large windows overlooking the city.

Loki frowned. "I'm not sure-" He was interrupted by a whistling sound that was increasingly becoming louder.

"Hey-"

"Shh!" Loki motioned for the other man to be silent, as he narrowed his eyes at the skyline. They widened as he caught sight of something heading directly for Stark Tower.

"Stark," the god pointed out the window and turned quickly to Tony. "There."

Tony swore as his human eyes spotted what Loki had just seen. "What is that?"

"Nothing good," he hissed. He could feel a roiling in his gut, so similar to when he was in proximity to the Other. He hated that feeling. "We need to get everyone out of the building. And you need-"

"To suit up, right," Tony nodded. "Wait! Can you use your voodoo?"

"My what? Stark, this is no time for-"

"Your magic!"

"Yes, I can. Go!"

The billionaire raced for the back of the penthouse. Loki was suddenly very aware that Darcy was in the building. He focussed, cursing the weakened bond and the tightening of his chest at that awful gut-wrenching sense of the Other, as he struggled to find her six levels below. He readied himself to go to her when Stark came out, clad in his Iron Man suit.

But by then it was too late.

The gigantic machine, a grotesque imitation of the Man of Iron, latched itself to the top of the building. The roof buckled under its weight and the windows shattered.

The 'R' and 'K' of the Stark sign fell to the ground below in a shower of sparks.

"Aw, come on, guys! Not again!" Stark's voiced cried out from behind his visor. He threw his hands up in frustration. "Always my Tower. Always!"

Loki felt sick. "Stark, tell your Jarvis machine to evacuate everyone."

"Already done, Lokes. I'm heading out and Thor's on his way. I'll see you out there." He took off out of the glass-less frame.

Simple as that. Stark trusted him to help. If even just for the sake of the woman Loki lov-

Loki stared down at his shaking hands. Nothing. Not even a spark.

Darcy was trapped in the building and his magic was gone.