~=High Rise=~

Besieged

*Marvel

*Loki Odinson, Darcy Lewis, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Thanos, etc.

AN: Human by Christina Perri for Darcy, it fits so well in this chapter and the next. Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Lorde.

Darcy clearly did not have enough to do. After all, she was only working on a major deal with Asgard's top man, so of course she had time to spy on his personal life for Fury and Thor. Obviously she lead a life of absolute leisure! It also was not as if she had to do preliminary work on other cases for other clients she was not constantly tied to.

Well, none of that mattered, obviously. Fury had spoken! Oh yes, so that made new rules out of life. Her eyes rolled as she played with the strap of her bag. Take what comes, like a Lewis, that was what she had to do. She prided herself on being able to roll with the punches and adjust accordingly. That worked for her most of the time, other than stairs, clearly.

Rolling with it or not, she was still discretely trailing behind the dark haired usurper as he went into the huge metal, stone, and glass building of Asgard. It reached up into the sky like a grand, sparkling castle, and she was the rival kings spy to infiltrate it, swim under the mote or scale the wall, as it were. That meant finding out exactly when the king in question came to the fortress.

It was glue they wanted, so glue she would be, stalker level glue. She could be that. Tapping the morning footage gave her exactly what she needed for when to trail in.

Loki came to the office a little earlier than most people, sneaking in just a few minutes before the doors were normally crowded. He was really more of an introvert, she could see it the more she knew about him. Solitude seemed to be where he thrived most even though he was frequently around people. While he was good with people he did not go out of his way to surround himself with them.

By this time she had quite a few thoughts on how the brothers younger days might have been. Studying, for example! Thor would have been that kid that listened to music quite loudly as he studied (if he studied), but right down the hall, Loki would be in his room in as quiet a place as he could manage. There was never any music playing in his office and she was sure he focused better in the quieter, darker places.

In contrast, Thor thrived off the energy of others. He seemed to crave people and had a wide circle of friends, at least he had while he was a big name. In a school setting, Loki would have been the one to automatically veer to a table away from the main group of crowds while his brother would clearly have dived in, seating himself at the busiest table.

She did think Loki craved people and attention but not continually. It was quite obvious he needed his solitude to remain sane, or as sane as he could be. He was an extroverted introvert, that was how she saw it. He was cunning enough to blend into any setting, but drew his center from the quiet. Books, most likely.

It was a little hard to walk quietly in a hospital issue, black boot that could never make it into any fashion catalog ever in the history of even the most wild designer's mind. She was making an effort though. Stealthy, she needed stealth! She was thinking cat thoughts. Be the floor, be the wall, be the silence!

Darcy's eyes were fixed on his back. He was sliding the keys in so she would make her move any second, let him know she was right behind him. She would be cool and casual about it to make sure he did not see anything odd about her all too sudden choice to start being early. Lawyers could do casual. There were classes on keeping clients happy and focused anywhere but the places you did not want them to look.

A rather mouse-like squeak turned out to be her "hello" as her cumbersome boot caught on one of the ugly metal chairs in the hall. With full health and range of motion she would have been able to recover, too bad she had none of those, because she fervently wished for them on her way down. She landed with a loud thud and groan as her leg yelled very loudly at her, joined by her knees, abdomen, elbows, and various other already tender places.

Too much oneness with the floor, Darcy, way too much!

Klutz, she scolded herself, mentally reminding herself to watch her stupid feet instead of him next time.

Loki spun around like he was waiting for some massive attack, keys held out like a switchblade until he spotted her. He frowned as he stared at the mess of hair and all around mishap that once had been her. He fleetingly eyed the lip gloss at his feet that rolled over there from her bag. She quickly flipped her hair out of her face and propped herself up on her elbows, trying for any shred of dignity she could grasp at this point. The dignity would be gone, of course, once she tried to get up because she had absolutely no idea how she would get off the lovely gray checkerboard carpet - It would be anything but a dignified or ladylike thing to watch.

"Good morning." She offered.

"Darcy?" He honestly looked at a loss, so strangely bewildered and unsure, like no one had ever come to see him at this time of the day before, let alone greeted him from the floor, "You're..." the pregnant pause meant he was trying to be tactful, "...early."

Her shoulders rose in as graceful a shrug a person could manage from the floor, "I was out already so I thought I might as well come in." She paused, arching a brow at him, "Is that a problem?"

His head shook slowly, still puzzling out what happened, "No, of course not, I just was not expecting you."

Such a calm conversation they were having considering she had just fallen on her face and ached like an old woman for it. At least he did not question it or laugh at her. If he laughed, she would have crawled over there and given him a good upper-cut to the face. Darcy swallowed, no, he was about to do something much worse than laugh. He was walking over, which could only mean he intended to help her up. While it was nice, and she did need the help, that did not mean she wanted to accept it from him.

It would really have been better if he walked into his office and let her struggle to her feet unseen. Dignity was just slipping away like sand the more she remained at his side. Soon she would have none left. She had the distinct feeling that every single time he helped her, she dug herself more deeply into debt, something he was bound to call in eventually. Being in his debt did not sit well at all but she always ended up being on the owing side.

As his hands came toward her, she considered refusing, but thought better of it. How much more in debt could she really be? He already saved her from bleeding to death in a staircase, it was not like she could make it much worse. At least she was not in a skirt this time.

Loki bent down and took her by the upper arms, guiding her first to her knees, which she could have done on her own, it was the next part that was tricky. The boot was the problem, so heavy and hard to move, keeping her from bending her ankle, which she kind of needed to do to get up. It was like having a wooden leg, so useless and impossible to work around.

"Tricky thing, getting up with these things..." She said to make herself feel better as she fumbled for a way to get her feet under her.

Surprisingly, he said nothing, no snide remarks as she struggled, patiently waiting as she gripped at his shoulders. Getting her good foot under her was easy, but figuring out how to tug the other into place was a puzzle. Stupid floor! Once she had a good hold on him, she readied to use him as a counterweight, but he moved first, using their mutual grips to simply lift her up. She stared at him in begrudging awe, not sure how he could be so strong and look so streamline. He used no effort at all and had not even hurt her arms when he dragged her up. She could not understand how he could be so cutting with words but so careful and gentle in other ways.

She did not realize she was still clinging to him until he pulled back and she instantly dropped her arms to her sides. Getting lost in questions and zoning out was never the right time if it was done at such a close range to the man. She was not even quite sure why her heartbeats sped up when she considered it. Embarrassment, she guessed it was.

He plucked up the lose items and scooped up her bag, handing it all to her with a muted, self satisfied smirk.

She tipped her head and thanked him before meekly following him into the office like a scolded child. She felt foolish for making such a scene and wished she had some potential to save a little of her own pride. It was too much to be humiliated this early in the morning. She needed to save herself somehow. Sinking into the sofa, she decided to move on and pretend none of the previous encounter even happened, so she dove into her thoughts quickly, as was her habit. Be direct and throw him off.

"Alright, we've been going in circles the past few days and I think it is time we ended this." She carefully crossed her bad leg over the good one, wishing she still had just a little grace in her, "We need to cement things. Decide what is negotiable to you and what isn't. I will do that same, decide what is viewed as nonnegotiable. It will be much easier to do that than dance around and pretend we will cave on issues we have no intention of changing."

One side of his lips twitched up, a bit like Tony's goofy smiles, "End the dance? I seem to remember you saying similar things the very first time you came into this office." He had not given her even a hint of a normal smile in days, one caused by amusement rather than his smugness, not before now, and she was surprised to find that getting it from him gave her a little thrill.

"I meant it then and I mean it now. I'm blunt. You should have learned that by this stage." Darcy gave him a bigger smile, "Besides, I can't dance too well right now." She wiggled her boot.

"You make quite a good point." He stepped around the little table and eased himself onto the other end of the couch, "We seem to fall easily into dancing around topics though. I guess it is in our nature to be clandestine to get what we desire."

"Every dance has an end. We need to find our footing and proceed from the biggest issues. Once we find impasses, we will be able to pave new roads around them, or build bridges." She said calmly, thinking her comparison a perfect word picture, and he did not argue, so she took it as a victory.

There! The round went to her for speeding things up like the good, order-taking spy she had become.

They worked well together, better when they stopped pretending to be pliable when they were set in stone, he would admit. That stalling the past two days had been partly intentional on his part now that he had set one of his plans into motion. For now, he needed her at close range where he could use her best. He stared at her, drinking her in as she shuffled to the side of his desk, so broken but still strangely beautiful with her delicate smile. She was sunshine in all her ridiculous clumsiness. If nothing else, she could make him smile.

For the tiniest moment he could picture enjoying his days with her right here in this office, unsure what he would do without her. He loathed it but he enjoy her being near, loved when they could laugh. When she smiled it was so hard not to smile with her.

It made being unkind to her feel worse, made the fact that he knew he would soon use her sting. Her persistence and tenacity was admirable, he would never deny it. It was not common to find a person like her, she was a rare treasure he wished he could keep. Darcy Lewis was very different from every other woman he knew, and he did want her, but he could not have her.

That fact was not unusual, he never could have most things he wanted the most. She tended to make it worse still by her actions. It was driving him insane the way she had suddenly changed tactics. Rather than letting him be silent, now she was everywhere. Yesterday, her comical, falling entrance had been unexpected, but she came early again today. She even invited herself to lunch with him, not that she made him pay even though he offered, but still. Being with her every second was too much when he was this conflicted.

He caught himself lost in thoughts or fantasies of her more than once, his focus totally derailed for long stretches of time. It was quite bad for his work but the thoughts were easy coming and difficult to push away. So much time had been squandered by his mind, time he needed to plot, which was the main content of what he had been doing lately. She had absolutely no idea what really was going on while he sat at his desk, no idea how much his thoughts revolved entirely around her in business as well as personal pondering. Thinking about it made him tired and he rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

"You alright?" Her voice hit him like ice water as he glanced up, taken back by the fact that she was asking with genuine interest. He had been mainly cold to her for days, she should have still been angry.

"Fine. Why?" Loki straightened, sitting back in his chair to eye her down his nose.

She shrugged noncommittally, "You just seemed very uncomfortable, like something was wrong. Headache, maybe?"

Loki blinked slowly, unsure how to even begin to answer, so he lied, "Nothing aspirin can't cure... but thank you for asking."

Darcy nodded and smiled in that relaxed, gentle way she had when they were alone, "Any time." It made him want desperately to kiss her so he simply looked away.

If she kept this up he might misplace his mind, might say or do dangerous things. He could not afford this, could not afford not to focus. It was getting harder and harder to endure not being able to get closer. Those dreams were killing him slowly, so much that he dreaded to go to sleep and was eager for it all at once.

In little and careful moves he had found himself touching her, brushing his fingers against her, anything to ease it. "Enough..." He muttered it before he realized, and she turned her eyes on him, tilting her head in a wary sort of question, "Enough chatter, we need to get busy, do we not?" Loki said in his best business tone, trying to force down the panic, irrationally afraid she would glean understanding of his thoughts somehow from his blunder.

"Very much so." Her agreement was music to his ears after such a slip up, "Do you have those terms we spoke of listed yet?"

Not quite as musical, he dreaded this, "Yes, I do." He said as he snatched up a file from his desk drawer.

Loki pushed himself out of his chair and perched instead on the corner of his desk, handing her the item to look over. Her face betrayed very little, but the tiny little creases between her brow were enough to tell him she had found a few things she did not care for. When she handed him Stark's list, they both knew the real battling would begin. These were the nitty-gritty, meat matters of the deal, the immovable objects they battled to control. Now they would be working specifically to outwit the other, get a blade around the other's neck to force a surrender. It was cloak and dagger now to see which of then could gain the upper hand with absolute lines drawn.

When he scanned hers, he was not shocked to find the technology department as one stipulation. Loki was persona non grata in the entire department, and that was the issue he was most interested in. This was their mutual stronghold, the prize to be had in battle. His green eyes peeked at her over the file, amused to find her fidgeting nervously when she thought he was not looking. She knew his stance perfectly well.

"Always so obstinate, that man." Loki muttered, "But at least we can honestly end the dance." He locked eyes with her intentionally, aiming to intimidate her, "Now the war begins."

Her own blue eyes narrowed at him, unimpressed, "Because it has been nothing but a party since we started."

"Comparatively, I think that is accurate." He smiled a sharp edge smile full of teeth, "From now on, it won't be quite so amiable. We know what we want and we both intend on having it. Stubborn people do not compromise easily, it is all done through twisting blades deeply enough in the opponent to force a concession."

"Or," Darcy offered, "the opponents growing up and working out terms of mutual benefit."

Loki could not keep the smile from his lips as he leaned forward, invading her space as he stared deeply into her eyes, "Do you think we can manage that?" He grabbed her wrist, intent on leading her to a chair and away from all his little notes he had been scribbling on scraps of paper, a little worried she might notice them. Whenever she neared his desk, he had been positioning himself to block her out of paranoia. The muscles in his fingers flexed almost involuntarily as he stared at her.

The pained gasp made him jerk his hand away like her skin burned him, green eyes wide as he watched her step back for distance. His agitation made him grab her more firmly than he realized. Maybe he meant to hurt her, to show her who held the power, or maybe his need to touch her was overwhelming him. It could have been the stress, the pressure, the guilt, any reason. He was unsure why he gripped her when he knew she was delicate, but he was surprised to realize that he felt both guilt and satisfaction at the same time.

He was taking out his emotions on her in the little things.

"Genghis Khan!" Darcy snarled, rubbing her wrist with her good hand, cradling it lightly in her palm.

Her nerves were all hyper sensitive, especially in her hand. The fingers were nearly healed but everything was tender. Her body responded more violently, keeping her sharp to avoid injuring anything again. Her body did not approve of the damage she took once and had no plans to revisit any part of it. Loki had quiet a grip though, even if she was sensitive to pressure. It might leave a mark.

Loki's brows cocked in that half inquisitive, half incredulous way of his, begging the question with his big and expressive eyes. "What?"

Darcy shifted, only just realizing she said something strange. There was one more reason this office and people set would think she was strange. Blurting random dead ruler names would qualify as odd behavior. If she had said Caesar or Pharaoh it still would not have been better.

Her fingers curled protectively around her arm and she laughed nervously, "Sorry, I guess that sounded strange."

His quizzical stare confirmed how odd he seemed to find the outburst. It was a cute expression.

Her fingers massaged her lily skin as she tried to decide how not to sound out of her mind. "Years ago, this friend of mine was a Christian - you know, she believed in God - and I was a teen with a mouth. Like most kids I thought swearing made me grown up. I used to say Jesus Christ as a cuss word all the time and so she got mad at me one day. She said there were tons of bad people in history, so why did I have to go and use the name of something she cared about rather than cussing Hitler's name or something." One shoulder lifted in a half shrug, "She had a point. Why pick on a guy that tried to do good instead of the really jerky ones in history that deserve it?"

He huffed a subdued laugh, "Interesting. I never know what will come out of your mouth next."

"I aim to be unpredictable!" She said and grinned wryly, "Usually works for me."

"It is a skill of yours." Loki paused, stilling the air to a deathly stagnation as they both looked to the floor, neither sure what to say. Finally, tilting his shoulders back and canting his head, he asked, "Would you like to run... or hobble down to the second floor to get a little coffee with me?"

Darcy grinned wide and nodded, "You said the magic words! I'll never turn a man down on offers of coffee."

Loki stuck out his arm, indicating for her to hold his elbow like a couple of cultured society friends. To her memory, he had never offered her his arm before simply to walk and it was a very odd sort of gesture, not one she was fully comfortable with. Still, she smiled again and tentatively slipped her hand into the crook of his arm and let him lead her out of the room, walking by his side with fake confidence. It felt very odd to her, the feel of his warmth, the silken quality of his Dolce & Gabbana at her finger tips.

Though she walked as far from him as comfort allowed rather than pressing in against his side, it was a strange kind of intimacy with him. At a party, with a random man she knew nothing about, it would not seem so unnatural, but she knew this man. He held up distance like a shield to a knight, sharp words and sinister smiles assuring others dared not venture close.

This closeness had been offered to her for reasons she was unsure of. Her first hunch, and only real idea was that he was seeking to apologize in his own way. He did that, she had noticed. Slowly she had begun to realize that when he said "would you like me to send for coffee", what he really was saying fell closer under "I'm sorry, don't be angry." It was an olive branch.

Using the words to convey regret was just not his way, he always did it in deed. His actions and words were disconnected, separate entities all their own thinking and language. She usually could have used at least two interpreters for this one man.

That in mind, she relaxed, allowing him to lead and begin a topic of absolutely no relation to work, and chat her up. He chose coffee houses as a topic, of course, which was a very safe play on his part. They slid into the elevator with only a few employees giving them odd glances. Only one woman at a desk shot Darcy a hateful glare before returning to her screen.

It made Darcy giggle aloud to know that some of them clearly read more into the casual exchange than an apology. The heavy doors clicked shut with a thump and she stared at the mated finish. The rumors would begin quite fresh and new now, which normally would have upset her, but it only amused her. That little blonde must have thought she was making moves on Loki, moves she clearly would have liked to be the one pulling. The little office elves might have even harbored thoughts that Loki cared for her, that romance was percolating.

How wrong they were! To think the big business magician at her side would ever look her way for any reason other than to brainwash her was only the sort of thing trashy or overly romantic and unrealistic books would dare venture into. The fact that she hobbled like and eighty year old really could not help things. How did they look at her and see a threat?

Those books would also have the elevator, once working perfectly up until this point, unexpectedly stall to trap them together for hours.

"What do you find so amusing, Miss Lewis?" He ventured the question as he pressed the two buttons to make it glow blue.

"I just found it funny how cheery your workers are, like the seven dwarfs, singing as they go." Her eyes remained on the doors steadfastly, having suddenly worried herself, hopeful she had not jinxed the machine.

"Ah, mockery." Loki smirked, not pulling from her hold, "I suppose Stark keeps his workers happy with songs playing over the speakers at all times."

"No, but Fury plays Disney movies in all the lobbies. He also keeps fresh smelling flowers in every office." She deadpanned.

"I hope you're joking, because I would fear for the economy otherwise."

Darcy chuckled and squeezed his arm as the doors opened, "Maybe."

She almost didn't notice the way he covered her hand with his for a moment as he lead her out of the lift. His fingers lingered longer than they had reason to, unless he really was trying to begin rumors. She did not react, strolling beside him until his hand fell away and their linked arms was again their only contact. That too was forgotten when the smell off coffee hit her nose.

Darcy slithered gracelessly past all the little worker bees eagerly getting ready to end the work day. She was in slacks and a flowy top to hide as much of the bruises as possible but she just did not look as polished as normal. Putting on makeup and fixing her hair was so hard when her fingers still hurt and did not respond the way they should. Her curls were messy but her makeup was at least good. She should just straighten her hair and be done with it until she had better control of her motor skills.

These people got on her nerves, all the cute little Banana Republic people walking around her drove her a little crazy sometimes. There were times she just wanted to see everyone in wild and hideous Cosby sweaters. People would not die if they were wild every once in a while, screw fashion rules.

Once she got to that overly huge door (compensating), she wrenched it open quickly. Shoving crowds on an injured person were not at all fun. She hated being pushed around like a rag doll. He did not bother to say hello as she breezed past him, she was headed for the chairs to put her bag down, so many papers made her shoulder ache. Tony followed fairly close on her heels, walking beside her until she slowed.

"So, Fury caught you, huh?" Stark perched on the edge of his desk to stare at her. "What was he asking you?"

Seriously? Darcy did not bother to ask if she was invited to sit, she simply walked to the best looking one and dropped into it. If this was going to be a grill session she needed to be comfortable for a change. She was just about sick of every person on the planet trying to make her their personal Jason Bourne. How did real spies deal with this? Did they eventually just go insane?

No use lying. "Yeah, he did. Why? Can't you ask him yourself?"

The corners of his eyes crinkled with his crooked smile, the partial beard being the only thing that made him look less a child. "Have you ever known him to offer information?"

"He works for you, remember? Make him tell you what you want to know." She mumbled.

"He works for me," Tony nodded, "and about a trillion other people. But you work for me too, remember? So I choose you."

What was she, Pikachu? Exactly how many people were giving her orders? How many people wanted her to play even more games? How many people was she even reporting to now? Or maybe the question was more along the lines of how many people thought she had to report to them?

Fine, she would play the game, "He wanted to be sure I wasn't giving Loki room to hang the deal and said he wanted me to work faster."

"That's all?" Tony stood, walking toward her chair, circling behind her, "He took the time to track you down just to say 'careful' around the big bad wolf?" One hand rested on either side of her shoulders on the chair.

He was trying to intimidate her somehow, she had the feeling, and she hated it, "Basically, he wanted me to check in." She smiled sardonically, "He's not too trusting, has to check up on everyone."

"Speaking of checking, how are you recovering?" His hands moved to her shoulders and he squeezed lightly a few times, but Darcy was not comforted. "Feeling any better? I know we rushed you after you left the hospital."

It took effort not to simply jerk away, but she sat up slowly, giving a subtle indicator, "I'm doing alright. Every day is an improvement." It was a relief when he moved away, taking the hint. "Thank you for asking." She just did not trust him, did not like him being too close. Besides, she had the feeling he was testing her somehow but could not decide what he was looking for.

He walked to his desk chair and sat down languidly, "I heard Loki eventually sneaked into the hospital to see you, right?"

Darcy's stomach soured instantly with dread, "I don't remember much about that day, I've never been sure what was real and what was my imagination or tricks of my scrambled brain. If he did, it was probably to try to hypnotize me and convince me not to sue him."

Stark barked a laugh, grinning as he shook his head, "It's funny, but I could really picture him trying that!"

Darcy smiled serenely, shrugging, "I wouldn't be too shocked."

"Oh, by the way, on the topic of scrambled brains, have you remembered more about the man that pushed you?"

"Not really." Darcy frowned, eyeing his relaxed posture with suspicion, "Just that his skin looked burned ... but why is everything I say reminding you of a different question? What are you dancing around, Mr. Stark?"

Those flashy teeth peeked at her when he smiled, "Always astute." He leaned back in his chair and spun once, just like a kid, "I know you don't tell me all you know. You and Fury and Loki tell me bits and pieces, but hide others. What I really want is some honesty, the meaty bits. I don't trust Loki or even Fury, but you're a good kid, so I want you to be real."

"Yes, Ms. Lewis, we do." That strong, collected, feminine voice drifted in behind her.

Darcy nearly jumped out of her chair to look at Pepper, "You're really quiet." She muttered as the door closed behind the petite figure.

It was unkind to frighten injured people. One heart failure while falling down stairs was enough to shorten her life, she was sure, and she did not need more.

"Please, Darcy, we need you to tell us everything you can." Pepper continued, light eyes staring right into her, so calm and at home in the huge office with her perfectly crafted attire Darcy only wished she could pull off.

"Such as? What do you think I'm hiding? What is everyone so desperate to know or hide around here that you call me out of a meeting with Odinson just to ask for details?" They did not need to know they really just interrupted the tail end of coffee with the enemy, that she would keep to herself.

"There is quite a lot at stake in this deal, as you must know by now. It goes deeper than just turning over profit. Tony and I are trying to look out for our company but we cannot do that without knowing what cards others are playing." Pepper just held herself like a Queen, asked questions so seriously like it was for national security.

Darcy deflated, she could not lie to that woman! This was cheating, like bringing in Princess Leia, Maid Marian, or Sister Kate. "Alright, Fury did drop hints for me to hurry the deal along and dropped a name. I can't find much information on him, but I only just started researching him. Fury thinks someone named Thanos is trying to sabotage the deal or steal it out from under you. He runs a few Casinos, from what I've found so far, and has a reputation for being a tough opponent." Darcy leaned into the chair, "He is known for a lot more but it can't be taken to court and proven, so he stays free even though he is infamous for shady."

Pepper dipped her slender chin in a demure nod, "We do have information about Thanos. What did Fury tell you about him in this deal?"

Darcy sniffed, "Nothing really, I'm not 'high enough rank' or something. He wanted you and everyone else kept away from Loki, wanted me to watch him like a hawk to be sure nothing slips under the table. I have looked into the guy's business dealings though, and he has a record for fronting illegal affairs behind legitimate ones, so I'm betting Fury has that assumption. For his part, I haven't seen anything more unusual than normal with Loki."

Stark and Pepper nodded as one, "We're going to need you to keep watching." Tony tented his fingers under his chin, "Thanos will be around, crawling in where he can. Search Loki's notes, snoop in his files whenever you get the opening. He has to keep record of contacts somewhere, and you can put it in the bank that he's talking to Thanos, Lewis, mark my words. Find it! Find record of it."

Darcy gaped at him openly, "I can't do that! If he caught me, he would toss me out!" She held off telling him she tried that her first day, and also how she already hacked his cameras once and found very little since records were deleted at the end of each day; the computer might be different though but that took more time than she had. "I have been watching him, but he never leaves long enough for me to do any real digging, he's too smart for that."

"Try anyway. You can forget the computer, he has to be doing it by hand now. I already hacked it once and found nothing but a corrupted file on it he destroyed well enough to keep the juicy stuff out. Being at his desk, you might get in better, but I doubt it." Tony's dark eyes drilled her, ignoring the blatant shock on her face, "He's smart, he's keeping things out of my reach, which means it's not on a computer. Find his notes and we'll have a place to start."

Darcy resisted the intense urge to comment on the fact that Stark hacked Odinson, but what could she really say when she did it too? Unethical, obviously, but when did computer people play completely fair? Hackers hacked, it was a fact, and Stark was a computer brain, better than she was, he could not be expected to keep his hands off. "Alright." She said lamely, "I'll look around and see what I can find. Picking locks never was my thing, but I can try to get into his desk."

"Be careful, Darcy, we do not want you putting yourself in way of any harm." Pepper cut in quickly, "We would not even ask this of you if there were a better way. We need information from someone we trust, and you are really the only one that has hope of getting it. You are closest to him."

"So I have been told." And told, and told, and told. She was everyone's spy and now she was adding more future crimes to the stack. Perfect! And she actually agreed, and easily too! Once Pepper came in with all that gentle prodding, it was over. That woman was impossible to deny and Darcy had no clear idea why! The second she asked though, Darcy was spilling her guts! She reminded her a little of Jane, maybe that was it. What kind of lawyer was she again? She was going to be disbarred for this, she really was! This case was literally going to ruin her! "I will be careful."

The muscles in his shoulders and neck coiled tight at the sound. Loki knew those steps, that superior gate almost as well as he did Thor's. The few times he heard it before had been unpleasant enough that the sound was imprinted on his mind with disgust. Such a visit could not mean anything at all pleasant, the big man coming himself was a terrible sign.

He was here to try to collect, most likely. It had been clear enough that a price was required and since Loki had not come running to pay it and swear his fealty, the leader himself was strolling in, not a menial tax collector. Prizes like this were a sadistic leader's greatest pleasure to collect personally, to ring the payment from bone with a more hands on approach to a hated enemy.

"Do come in." Loki murmured, not turning his chair from the window, "I suppose you came for tea."

That heavy leather coat swayed as the imposing figure sauntered to a chair, "Not quiet what I was thinking, but I could be persuaded."

Loki smiled wolfishly, turning sharply to face the great figure of a leader, ignoring the eye-patch and staring directly into that lone, dark eye. "Of course, I always love a good cup with my veiled threats and blatant blackmail. Will Earl Grey be to your taste or would you rather have another leaf variety?"

"Anything's fine as long as it's accompanied by some answers." Fury eased himself down, both hands on the armrests, "You never did contact me, your phone must be having problems, so I came to check on you."

Loki pulled out the sickliest of appreciative looks he could, "Thank you so much for your worry. Your personal attention to all of your unwilling partners is touching."

His gleaming white teeth flashed, "I do try my best, Odinson. I like to think I will look out for you better than your own father." He paused, frowning, "Which should not be too hard considering he disowned you."

Loki's smile was a razor edge, lacing all his pent up anger in a release of stoicism that would drive the other man mad, "I can't say that I ever would have considered you a father figure, but now that you mention it, I really do see similarities. I'm sure I will claim very similar results with you as I did him. I always did have a knack for getting my way even with him."

A heavy laugh hummed past Fury's lips, "I might have to ground you more often than he did then, or take you to the woodshed to remind you who's in charge."

Fury might be displeased that she left before Loki since she was supposed to be "glued to his side" but Stark told her to come to his office. Had she known what he wanted, she would have ignored it, but she hadn't, so she didn't. He was her client first so she had to do as he asked, Fury could get over it. Moreover, Loki would be going home soon, so there was no reason to go back to the office. He and his eye-patch could deal, because she was going home. She had been doing well as glue, she thought.

Once again, she was making her way to an area where a cab could see her wave. It was unfair how tall other people were. People were everywhere and they paid no attention to her. It took a lot of effort just to get to a place she could be seen. Passing all these apartment buildings was one such path. Cabs hung out around residential areas like hotels to get the traffic.

A particularly thin stick of a man bumped her, shoving her to the side. Normally, she would have been able to correct herself, but her boot slipped, throwing off her balance completely. She shrieked when her senses and eyes took stock of exactly what direction she was falling. The brain worked quite fast, assessing that she could not stop her own fall, but worse was that it knew where her landing would be, which was at the bottom of some nasty looking stairs to some basement.

Panic hit her in a dizzying wave as she felt herself falling, inertia made her head spin. Stairs had it out for her even if she wasn't on them! People had a thing for pushing her down them too. Once again, there was nothing she could do to stop it even though it felt like it was slowed to a snails pace.

The world spun again when hands jerked her the other direction so fast she fell the next way. Her face connected with something and she was quite aware that it hurt, but still grateful the world was stabilizing and it had nothing to do with stairs.

Darcy grunted as she steadied herself, an unfamiliar hand also clamping onto her shoulder to assist. That was one very sold guy, she realized as her eyes connected with the chest (brick wall) she unwittingly broke her face on, not that it was his fault, he did her a favor to catch her. She pulled back quickly, taking him in as she moved. Those shoulders absolutely had to be several inches wider than even Thor's, which was saying something. Everything about him screamed mountain as her eyes traveled up his barrel chest, thick neck, and finally round face.

The pallor of his skin was strange, almost gray, like he never got any sun -not that she could talk about never getting out. He was smiling down at her, a big mouth full of straight white teeth, lips too thin, or maybe it was more that his eyes were too small and wide-set, or to do with how his chin was too large and square.

"I'm so sorry!" Darcy rattled off quickly, her eyes still scanning his face, landing on the real oddity of him; five long scars down his chin.

"Not to worry." His voice was deep, with a damp cellar or storm shelter kind of feel to it.

The scars started just below his upper lip, curving over his lower and down his chin, like a really bad cat scratch. She had to make a seriously conscious effort not to look at them, focus on his eyes instead, and even then she was looking at them with her peripheral. They were so very eye catching and knowing she should not stare at them just made the temptation to gawk ten times worse.

"Pretty sure you just saved my life, Mister." She smiled up at him, so thankful to a man she did not even know that she could easily have hugged him.

He extended a very large, thick, stubby fingered hand toward her, "Titus."

She gingerly placed her petite hand into his, worried her might break it if he squeezed, "Darcy, nice to meet you."

AN: *does cliff hanger dance* Sorry guys!

I've gotten several comments about how kickin' and tough Darcy is, which makes me really happy because that's exactly what she is! This girl was tough, she faced Dark Elves and never even really blinked. She didn't run and hide or curl up waiting for someone to save her. In Thor one, while the Destroyer was shooting up the town, she was rescuing a puppy (in the deleted scenes) not running around screaming! Just watch her, she's never the damsel, she always stands her ground one way or the other. I hate it when she is depicted as flimsy and weak, someone that would just go along with Loki on anything. Darcy thinks for herself.

As for their relationship, every story I've ever read on them has her cave first but I honestly don't think she would. Loki is very emotionally centered. He pushes people away, fears being hurt and betrayed, yes, but he feels a lot. He is a mass of balled up emotion over so many people. He might try not to feel, might deny what he feels, but he feels so strongly, he's super emotional. Whereas Darcy is peppy and energetic but she holds her real emotions down so deep they don't fully surface much. She plays dumb, like a girl that was never taken seriously, but she's as logical as Jane sometimes. In TWD, when she was on the phone and Ian was watching TV she was more irritated than frightened, just trying to get everything fixed from her end the best she could. Crazy stuff happened but she always rolled with it, never letting it sink in, just taking the challenge and moving on to a solution.

In my universe/thing she was raised to be strong, not emotional. Feelings weren't really prized, being driven and strong was. Her feelings come slowly, like how she started feeling closer to him when she was hurt, but then he shut her down so she closed that feeling off again. She has a need for control. She is passive aggressive and denies and compartmentalizes her feelings so well she hardly notices them. She gets angry but even her anger is controlled to the best of her ability. She is also a lawyer and sees human nature at its worst so she doesn't believe in real friendships because she sees them end so badly, or love because she sees it destroyed and lost. She is in a world of men and she has had them try to seduce her for their own purposes before so she just shut down that entire part of her brain, set up firewalls and mental blocks to make sure she never fell to it. It takes a lot for her to let her emotions free. Thing is, she is human and she can only keep feelings in a box so long. She's only part super-girl.

Oh, the Genghis Khan thing was a nod to an old friend of mine, btw.