(Thank you to Khordealis who made the Swedish corrections for me :))

Oh goodness I got really sad writing this...for more than one reason but I'd rather not talk about it. Anyways, as usual I love all of your wonderful comments and I'm glad so many of you are enjoying this. Things are going to start picking up between Loki and Steve now, I promise.

Disclaimer: Do not own Marvel Universe

Warning: Language

(I made Thor and Loki to originally be from Sweden since that's one of the Norse countries)

Comments/critiques are always welcomed!

Darcy bangs her hands on the steering wheel and flips her hair. She was in a surprisingly good mood after bouncing back from her week of torment.

"'Cause she's an uptown, get-around, anything-goes girl, girl… She's a hardcore, candy-store, gimme-some-more girl, girl…"

She bobs around to the music, pushing her hair back out of her face. It was unusually warm for October but Darcy was rather fond of driving with her windows down. It made her feel adventurous like people in movies who have nothing better to do than drive around on the open road.

"Saying yeah…you want her, but she's so mean… Yeah…you want her, but she's so mean…"

It was Sunday. Darcy hated Sundays. In fact she hated Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. She wasn't sure why she was so fond of Wednesday though other than it being the middle of the week, her favor for Fridays and Saturdays were self-explanatory.

"And all you want is just to hold her, but she don't go for that… She has a hard time coming when she can't hit back…"

Darcy pulls up in front of Loki's house, noting on the lack of cars which meant his parents were away on business as usual which also meant that the only fighting would be because of one of Loki's bad moods and Thor's adorable yet annoying tendencies. She continues to bang on the steering wheel, giving it a few minutes. "Yeah…you want her, but she's so mean …" She turns off the radio and kicks her door open—damn thing was so rusted one had to force it—and she swings the keys around her finger. Technically she had homework she could've been doing…but when she weighed out her choices of bothering Loki or writing an English paper about a book she didn't read Loki seemed more interesting.

And if she sold him her soul she could get him to write her a paper.

She continues to hum. A cat runs between her legs as she walks up to the door, rubbing against her and purring. Darcy wasn't particularly fond of cats. She wouldn't pick them up or hold them but she tolerated them. The cat scratches at the door and meows. She snorts, "I can't let you in, I don't know if you're allowed-" she lifts her head when she hears shouting and sighs. Loki was in a bad mood. Darcy lets herself in, the cat running in before she can get her foot out. Thor and Loki were both standing in the kitchen, Loki leaning against one of the counters with a coffee mug in his hand and scowling as usual while Thor stood with his arms crossed, scowling right back at him. They take no notice to her presence, Darcy tossing her keys onto the side table and kicking the door closed. It wasn't unusual for them to fight and to be honest Darcy was surprised they didn't fight more often but over the past three years or so Thor had been doing his best to give Loki his space.

"You had no right to go through my phone-"

"You weren't answering it! Mother called and said you weren't answering her texts or calls-" Loki scoffs and rolls his eyes. "And I saw all those…messages from other people…"

"Which you had no right to see!"

"You think I want this to happen all over again-"

"I didn't even know you were still capable of thought, you idiot, what should I care what you think?"

Thor scowls at him. "Det är du som låter folk trampa på dig!"

"Det gör jag inte alls!"

Darcy flops down onto the couch and turns on the TV. It was hard to pay attention to a fight when she couldn't tell what they were saying.

"Mamma är orolig för dig, du pratar ju inte med henne!"

"Ja, våra samtal har ju varit så uppfriskande," Loki sips his coffee. "Jag gör vad jag vill Thor, och det sista jag vill göra är att prata med din mamma eller hennes skitstövel till make-"

Thor growls and grabs the front of Loki's shirt, lifting him up. "You'd best watch your tongue, Loki, no matter what quarrel you have with our parents, you will respect them!"

"STOP IT!" Darcy snaps, looking over at them. "Thor, put him down, you're just going to regret it later when he's not talking to you." She keeps flipping through the channels, Thor doing as she says. Loki pushes his way past his brother and sits in the chair next to Darcy, scowling. Thor storms upstairs. She watches him go before turning to Loki. "I swear, all you do is try to fight with him…can't you two get along like you used to? I don't like angry Thor."

Loki curls up in the chair and pouts. "Shut up, Darcy."

Multiple cats climb up on the chair with Loki, purring and kneading against him. Darcy wasn't a cat person but Loki was. Dogs smelled and drooled and rolled all over everything and made everything else smell and they always always wanted affection so they weren't Loki's style…cats however kept affection to themselves unless they wanted it. Loki had found he had more in common with animals. They gave affection no matter what you'd done, what you were going to do, who you were…as long as you were considerate of them, they were considerate of you, and no judgment was passed in their eyes. Darcy watches the cats climb all over Loki, settling down against him and purring. She puts the TV on mute and squats down onto the floor, scooting over towards the chair and sitting down, petting the closest cat to her.

"So what's up with all these guys, I know your parental units aren't letting you keep them."

"Thor's taking them to the shelter later," he mumbles. "They needed a rescue house until the shelter was ready for them." Loki pets the cats laying against his chest.

Darcy stretches, making a face when one of the cats climbs down onto her lap. "One of these years I should just get you a kitten for Christmas…" She pets the cat regardless of its invasion of her personal space. "Then you'll have something to occupy your time when I'm not around instead of running out trying to find affection somewhere else, huh?" Loki grunts. Darcy sits up and sets her head on the chair against his, grumbling when the cats sniff at her face. "So how's it going? I hear you and Steve have been hanging out."

"How do you think it's going?" he sighs. "Did you not just scold me and the oaf?"

"Excuse you—I believe I asked about Steve Rogers and his fine ass, you and Thor fight every fucking day why would I care about that?" Darcy cared…Darcy cared a lot in fact but she knew there was no use in making Loki talk when he didn't want to talk. It was either that or they'd start fighting and everyone in the house would be in a bad mood. Besides she already knew about the messages and the videos and harassment…even if she hadn't known she would have figured it out. Loki was a talented liar and he could lie about a lot of things but even Darcy knew when he had too much being thrown at him all at once. He could build up all the walls in the world around him to keep every living thing out and she'd still know. She always knew. "Now are we going to talk about how sculpted Steve's butt is, or should I just leave because that's honestly the only reason I came over."

Loki snorts, staring at her. "Get off my chair and maybe then I'll talk to you." Darcy grins, shifting to sit back against the front of the couch, turning the volume on the TV back on. Loki sits up slowly, letting the cats shift around to settle against his sides and lap. "Why do you watch this Japanese horror shit, it's always the same ghost haunting the same dumb bitch who doesn't know when to quit."

"That's because it's The Ring II dumbass," she pulls her hair back and ties it up. "So what, you and Steve just hang out and shit now?"

"Not exactly. We sit together at lunch and talk in the halls and sometimes in class—nothing special."

Darcy bites her lip to hold back a grin. "So…what do you talk about?" Loki shrugs, his attention on the movie. Darcy punches him. "Come on! You know I like him—does he ask about me? Is he dating anyone?"

He rolls his eyes. "Doubtful."

"What's that mean?"

Loki glances at her and sighs, pushing himself upright much to the cats disapproval. "Rogers is a nice guy…but he's almost too nice." He pushes the cats aside gently and stands to walk towards the kitchen. "I got the feeling that he's not seeing anyone though. And if you're going to make a move I suggest you make it fast because Carol Danvers seems to have her eye on him." Loki takes a water out of the fridge and gulps some down. He sits back down in the chair as Darcy wrinkles her nose.

"Carol Danvers? No way, she's had her eye on Bucky ever since Natasha dumped him for Clint—which in my eyes makes Bucky off limits, even you aren't crazy enough to pick up Natasha Romanoff's sloppy seconds…" Darcy holds her hand out for his water and takes a swig. "What do you think though? Do you think Steve likes me?"

"Rogers likes everyone, that's his problem."

"No-" she makes a face at him. Loki could be such an insufferable ass sometimes. "Come on, princess, I don't want to make a move if you know he doesn't like me."

"I don't know if he likes you like that, Darcy, that's just it—he's nice to everyone, he's polite, and yeah, he asked about you once or twice, but I'm pretty sure he was just making conversation." He sips his water. "He likes you as a friend, yeah, but I don't get the feeling he has his eye on anyone so you're going to have to fight it out with whoever else may like him which is just about every fucking girl in the tri-state area."

Darcy groans and lets herself fall over onto her side. He was right though. She was going to have to up her game if Steve Rogers was ever going to take an interest in her—Darcy glances up at Loki. Steve did have an unusual interest in Loki…Loki her bestie best best friend. She grins. The bestest bestie best best friend a girl could ever have. "Hey, Loki-" he looks down at her. "Do you think you could maybe-"

"No."

"But you don't even know what I-"

"I'm not talking you up to Rogers. Flash your breasts or something, but leave me out of it."

She pouts, poking his side continually. "But guy friends are supposed to talk up cute girls to their other guy friends!"

"I am not a guy friend and am certainly not his friend," Loki scowls at her. "Rogers and I talk, that's it. And who said you were cute?" He pauses. "Don't say Thor." One of the cats meows at him, crawling up to lay on his chest. "That's an idea—why don't you go bother Thor because you're annoying me."

"You're an ass! Can't you do this one thing for me? Please?" Darcy jabs her finger into his side. "I'll do whatever you want!"

Loki squirms away from her finger and sighs. "You talk to him anyways, why can't you just flirt or something?"

"Give me one good reason why you can't help me and I won't ask you again," Darcy crosses her arms, staring hard at him. She had called his bluff. He didn't have a good reason other than an uneasy feeling in his gut that he couldn't explain and simply not wanting to. He sighs and rubs his eyes.

"Fine! Fine…I'll—try to remember, but no promises."

Darcy squeals and jumps up on her feet to crush him in a half-hug against the chair cushions, kissing him. Loki sputters and pushes her away to wipe the back of his hand across his mouth. She kisses his nose and forehead instead, the cats pawing at her face and Loki trying to push her off of him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're the only, bestest, greatest friend I'll ever need!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, just get off me…"

Instead, Darcy pushes him so that he's sitting up and settles on the chair with him, letting his head rest in her lap as she pets his hair. The cats all climb back on Loki as he adjusts himself, purring and rubbing all over him and Darcy who swats gently at them to leave her alone. Loki sighs and closes his eyes. She knew he liked the physical attention sometimes especially when he felt stressed from being locked out and outcast. He hums, petting the two cats closest to him. Darcy's buzz dies down as she pets his hair and watches him. She knew he'd been being harassed ever since last weekend but there wasn't much she could do. When Steve had told her all he'd witnessed at the party she sensed a hesitation, like he didn't want to tell her everything or that he was embarrassed to say, she wasn't sure, but all Darcy really knew about was Loki's rather provocative dancing. He'd taken dance lessons with her as a joke but had gotten quite good like he did with just about everything else he did but when it came to the more lewd dancing he certainly had the hips and ass for it. She sighs, knowing very well this wouldn't be the end of any harassment during the year, and kisses the tip of his nose. Loki opens his eyes to stare at her.

"So what's up with Frigga? You two are fighting?" Loki shakes his head. "Hmm…Thor seemed pretty upset."

"He's not sure what to do…"

Darcy nods. "None of us really are…you've been in school almost a month and the whole junior class is in an uproar. So what's going on, what aren't you telling me?"

He battles his want to not talk to her, Darcy can see it on his face. "Fucking Sif…she found one of the videos of me at the party and asked Frigga how I was adjusting back in school…she asked why she'd asked and Sif said she'd seen some videos of me and was concerned. Fucking bitch…" Loki grumbles. "So now Frigga's trying to get me to tell her what's going on but I'm ignoring her and that's why Thor's panties are in a twist. She went crying to him that I'm rejecting her and that I don't want her in my life anymore, I'm sure of it…"

"Fucking Sif…want me to beat her up?" Loki nods, faking a pout and turning his head to hide his grin. "She'd hand my ass to me though, huh? You'd be carrying me to the hospital in a shoe box." He laughs, burying his face into her thigh. Darcy pokes at his face and steals his water from him, taking a sip and holding it above her head. "No, you have to reach for it."

"Ge tillbaka det, din bitch!"

"Your devil's language can't help you now! Reach, princess-" She yelps when he punches her in the boob and drops the bottle on his face, making him yelp as well. They both laugh, Darcy pushing down on his face while Loki pinches her sides, all of the cats staring and meowing at their chaos. Loki wriggles like a worm when she starts to tickle him and flips off the chair, sending two of the cats running. He grabs for her arm and tries to pull her down with him but she grips the chair and refuses to be defeated. Thor comes back downstairs and snorts when he sees them wrestling one another. He pulls a shirt on over his head, pulling his hair back and tying it in place.

"Loki-"

Loki sits up at the sound of his name, pushing at Darcy so she doesn't roll down on top of him. "Hmm?"

"Jag är ledsen för att mitt humör tog överhanden. Kan du åtminstone försöka sluta fred med mamma? Snälla?"

He nods, giving his brother a small smile. Darcy squeals when Loki pins her into the chair cushions, the cats moving to climb onto her back and lay down. "Nooooo they're touching meeee!"

Thor shakes his head and smiles. "Are you ready to take them over to the shelter? I don't want mother and father getting home and making a big fuss about them…father's blood pressure has been high enough as it is."

"Yeah, I'm sure the shelter's ready for them. We have…seven and we can double up in carriers but Sheba there—the female—is pretty old, she doesn't move much so I'm sure she'll be fine just sitting on my lap." Thor nods and scoops up two of the cats while Loki carries the pet carriers over from the foyer. They pack the six of them up, some of them starting to howl from being packed in so tightly. Loki shushes them, cooing at them through the bars. Darcy helps carry the carriers to the door while Loki scoops up Sheba.

"I'll bring the car around the drive," Thor grabs his keys and heads towards the front door. Loki and Darcy settle down on the couch, Sheba purring pleasantly on Loki's lap. They both jump to their feet when Thor starts howling outside. "What are you doing—SE UPP HUR DU KÖR, ANNARS SLÅR JAG IN ANSIKTENA PÅ ER!" Both head outside to see Thor glaring angrily after two boys running down the street. Loki touches his arm and talks to him in Swedish to calm him down. Darcy frowns when she sees what Thor had gotten so angry about. The unfinished remnants of 'faggot' had been sprayed on the front of the house in large bold letters. Thor sighs, rubbing the back of his neck to calm himself. "I'll…get the hose and try scrubbing this off. Hopefully we'll get to the shelter before it closes…if not I'm sure we can hide the cats upstairs in both our rooms until tomorrow."

Loki nods.

"Let me take care of it," Darcy offers, shrugging.

Thor furrows his brow and shakes his head. "You don't have to-"

"It's fine, really. Take Loki and his precious cats to the shelter and get them settled, I'll get this cleaned up before your folks get home—I hope."

The brothers look at one another and then back at Darcy, both frowning.

"Want me to get the bucket-"

"Go!" Darcy orders, pushing them towards the car. "I'll take care of it, I promise." Thor takes her hand and kisses it, giving her a small smile. He helps pack up the car, Loki placing Sheba in the front seat and walking back over to Darcy. "No. You're not helping me, get your ass in Thor's SUV before I beat the shit out of you." Loki smiles sadly at her, glancing at the word he knew was meant for him and climbs in the car with Thor, Darcy waving them off. She watches them drive out of sight and sighs.

Darcy collects a bucket and sponge from the garage, filling the bottom of the bucket with soap. She carries it out to the hose and fills the bucket until suds start to pour over the side. She makes multiple trips, carrying the bucket over to the wall, and then the soap, and then tugging and pulling the hose until it's far enough that it'll reach. And as Darcy squats down to start scrubbing away the offensive word she could feel her chest tighten. It was tiring. Not the hose or the bucket or how long it took to scrub away each letter…Darcy was just tired. She was best friends with an emotionally abused boy who couldn't seem to catch a break. All she wanted was someone to see him just like she did—someone that was worth something with intelligence and creativity and such wonderful potential…Darcy scrubs angrily and feels the tears well up in her eyes. She tries to wipe them away but they just keep coming and coming. What was going to happen? Would they keep abusing him like this, in the shadows, or would it get physical again? Darcy wasn't sure she could handle anything getting physical…she could barely handle what was happening now.

She scrubs and scrubs at the letters but in her mind they just won't go away because they'll always be there…they're always there and she's not sure if they'll ever go away. Darcy sits down on her knees and sobs, the suds dripping down the remaining letters.