Chapter Thirteen: Slashed Open And Laid Bare

Darcy woke the next morning to the feeling of her mattress dipping just slightly to the left. She forced her eyes open and made herself focus on the object on the side of her bed. She gave a small smile when she saw Jane, cup of coffee in hand.

"This has to be new. Normally I'm the one shoving coffee under your nose to wake you in the mornings." Jane just rolled her eyes. Not that she was wrong, Jane couldn't count how many times she had fallen asleep over her work only to wake up and find a steaming cup of coffee pressed beneath her nose.

"Yeah, well, Tony said you were up late last night worried and thought for once I should return the favor." Darcy laughed, her voice still thick with sleep.

"So, besides the Elixir of the Gods, what are you doing here?" Jane fidgeted, she had never been able to lie or even dissemble around Darcy. Jane had yet to figure out if Darcy was that good, or if she was just that transparent.

"Thor came in at about six this morning, he said that Loki wanted you to know that you're to return home as soon as you woke." Darcy raised an eyebrow at that and sat up, leaning back against the headboard. She held out a hand, sticking out her tongue as Jane giggled at her weak attempt to grab the coffee. Jane took pity on her and placed the steaming cup in her hand.

"From what I gathered, what Thor told Loki was a lot to take in. Thor thought that he might need you. He didn't say what they talked about though, only that Loki would need you." Darcy nodded, blew on her coffee and took as large as a drink as she dared until the stuff cooled. She didn't doubt that Loki would need her, mostly after his breakdown. She almost feared what she would find when she went down there, what state he would be in.

She got up from the bed, handing the cup back to Jane, and went off to the bathroom. Loki needed her, but right now she needed something a bit more. Once finished, she entered the room again to find that Jane had yet to move. Not questioning it, she just grabbed the coffee, now sufficiently cooled, and downed the entire cup.

"I'll see you later, this…..this might take awhile." Jane just nodded at her, already figuring that no one would be seeing those two for some time.

When Darcy returned to the apartment, it was to find Loki right where she had left him the afternoon before. He was sitting forward in the chair, arms resting on his knees and his chin in his hands. He looked like he had a weight of the world on his shoulders.

She sat down on the couch closest to him, though what she really wanted to do was curl up in his lap, holding him tightly to her.

"Have you even gone to bed yet?" He looked up at her then, but with only a lift of his eyes.

"No, I've had too much to think about. Sleep has been the last thing on my mind." Darcy nodded, not really knowing what to say. She couldn't even begin to imagine how she would feel if she had been in his place.

"Thor is not my brother." Darcy's eyebrows shot up at that. What in the world had those two talked about? She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off with a look. It really wasn't fair that he could do that when everyone just laughed at her when she tried it.

"He isn't, not really. Not by blood anyway. We're not even of the same species." He looked up at her fully then, his eyes the most haunted that she had ever seen them.

"The blue I have been dreaming about, it has been me this whole time. I'm a Frost Giant." Well, that one was news to her. No one ever really talked to her about Loki, unless it was to tell her what an evil bastard he was.

"Alright, you're adopted, many people are. It's nothing to be ashamed of." He shook his head, his eyes boring into hers.

"You don't understand. Thor said there were other reasons, ones even he didn't know about himself, but my being a Frost Giant was one of the reasons why I did everything I have.

"I know it sounds ridiculous, but he said that on Asgard, Frost Giants are considered monsters. I grew up hearing horror stories about them, about how evil they were. I guess when I found out I hadn't taken it all that well." Ok, that was probably an understatement. He had tried to take over the planet, most kids acted out by getting a tattoo or something.

"I can understand that I guess. It must have been hard to find out you were something that your people thought of as a monster. It would be enough to break anyone." Loki ran his hands through his hair, his eyes turning down. He feared what she would do once he told her the rest. Would she go running from their rooms, unable to stand being anywhere near him?

"I have done things, evil things. According to Thor I killed my birth father, tried to destroy my birth planet, sent the Destroyer to Earth to try and kill Thor. He told me you were there that day, I could have killed you." Tears stung the backs of her eyes, she would make sure to smack Thor upside the head next time she saw him. There had been no reason for him to tell Loki that piece of information.

"The things that he told me, the things I have done on Asgard and on Earth, I don't understand how you can even look at me." Loki feared that he might break down again. To think that through his actions he almost killed Darcy. It made him want to scream.

Darcy stood up off of the couch then, going to kneel on the floor in front of him. She cupped his face in her hands, forcing him to look her straight in the eyes.

"When I look at you I don't see the man that has done all those things. Much has happened since this all began. You've changed." When it looked like he was going to talk again, she placed a single finger against his lips to stall him.

"Are you sorry? For what you have done? Do you regret it, wish you could take all of it back?" He looked at her seriously, his hand coming up to push her finger off of his mouth.

"There is no way I could regret what I have done more. If it was within my power to do so, I would undo everything I have done, undo all the pain and suffering in all realms. As it is, I do not have such a power. I will live with this guilt the rest of my life." What life he had left to live. Thor had explained what their mother had done, but Loki wondered if his punishment would be enough to satisfy their father.

Darcy smiled up at him after he finished. Tears shimmered in her eyes, but she looked as though she couldn't be happier.

"That is how I can stand to look at you, that is why I love you. An evil man would never have said those words, he never would've felt regret." She leaned up until she was face to face with him, her lips pressing lightly against his. She pulled away a second later, just far enough that she could look into his eyes.

"For what it is worth, in my eyes you are forgiven." Loki pulled her up into his arms, holding onto her tightly. He wasn't sure why she was still there, why she had forgiven him. But he wasn't about to question it.

Frigga smiled as she looked out over Asgard. From inside the great hall she could hear the sounds of the Court as they laughed and ate. Soon both her sons would return and with them bring a joy and light greater than anything Asgard had ever seen.

She looked over when she felt a presence beside her to see Odin. The smile fell from her face. She had not shared her bed or body with her husband since she had gone against him to send Loki away. She loved him, but she was done watching as he made bad choices regarding their sons.

"Has your plan worked?" She turned and gave him a soft, yet smug smile. She knew he had had his doubts from the beginning. He may have been angry at her for going against him, but she knew he had expected her to fail.

"It has. Loki still has one more task before he is fully restored and can return." Odin always went about things the wrong way with Loki. Both of their sons could endure a great deal of pain. It was not a physical punishment that Loki needed, but an emotional one.

"You do remember that even if he passes your little test, I have the ultimate say about whether or not Loki will be allowed to return or not?" Frigga gave him a glare cold enough to freeze a thousand suns.

"Then you better choose wisely, because you are looking at an eternity of a cold bed and an heirless throne. I have bound Thor to Loki, Thor will be unable to return without his brother. And know this, where my sons go so shall I. Even if it means living out the rest of my life as a mortal. To live and die in a blink of your eye." She turned to go, but made one last comment for Odin to think about.

"I told you not to make me choose between you or my sons. Think on this well my husband. Deny me my right as a mother and I will destroy your world."

When Loki woke up, it was to a pain in his back and neck, and something warm in his lap. He stiffened for a moment as he tried to figure out where he was. The last he could remember was talking to his mother in the room he had been locked in.

He opened his eyes, looking down to the sleeping woman that was curled up in his arms. He froze for a moment. There was a woman in his lap, he was sure he would have remembered falling asleep with such a beauty. His eyes drank her in, fragments of memories popping up until suddenly everything came rushing back in a torrent of images.

The drugged kiss his mother had given him, waking up at a mortal hospital without any knowledge of who he was. The memory loss, being pinned up against the hospital wall, meeting Darcy, moving in with Darcy, getting to know Darcy, the flashbacks, the nightmares, the kisses and touches, Thor coming to talk to him, to apologize though he couldn't remember him at the time. His own apology and acknowledgment that he regretted what he had done just the hours before.

He looked up to the ceiling and couldn't help the bitter laugh that left his lips. Both of his parents were real pieces of work. Though he had to admit, at least unlike Thor, he didn't have to die.

He flicked his hand in order to levitate Darcy off his lap so he could use the restroom, but nothing happened. He held back a curse when he realized he had yet to gain his powers back, just his memories.

Carefully he removed Darcy and went to take care of business, when he returned to the living room Darcy was sitting up, rubbing her eyes.

He had expected to feel nothing for the mortal woman, now that he had his memories back. Nothing but an appreciation for her beauty, but when he looked at her he still felt that tightness in his chest and sickness in his stomach. How could he still feel such a thing knowing who and what he was?

She looked over at him, giving him a bright smile. Unbidden, he remembered her words from just hours ago. She had forgiven him. Him! A creature his own world thought to be an evil monster, a man that had tried to kill and enslave her own people, and she forgave him.

Darcy stood and went over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning up to give him a light kiss. The press of her kiss startled him. He knew he should feel repulsed, before everything happened he would have been. He would have thrown her off, snapped at her for daring to touch him with her filthy mouth. But he felt no urge to do so, no, her kiss sent heat throughout his body. That shocked him so thoroughly that he stood frozen in her arms, unable to respond.

After a moment Darcy realized that he wasn't kissing her back. In fact he was standing still as a statue. She pulled back, looking up at him and the strange expression on his face.

"What's wrong? Loki?" He looked down at her, at the face he had grown so accustomed to. How could any of this be happening?

"I remember….everything. My memories are back."

Darcy stood back from him, her eyes swirling with tears. He found himself wanting to step forward, to take her into his arms and comfort her. Instead he just stood there and watched as she nodded to herself, taking another step away from him.

"I see. I knew it would happen eventually. I told myself to expect this from you, hell even Clint told me it would happen. I know I was stupid, to fall in love with a man that I knew would eventually despise me." Darcy laughed at that, but the sound was anything but a happy one.

"Still, I did and I guess that is my own fault. I'm sorry…..no, you know what, I'm not sorry!" The tears in her eyes still shimmered, but the hopeless look on her face turned dark as she became angry.

"Damn it! I love you and everything I have ever said to you I have meant. Now if you will excuse me, I have some things I need to do." She quickly leaned up, gave him one last kiss and pulled back, a few tears slipping down her cheeks.

"I love you." With that, she ran from the apartment as fast as she could. Leaving Loki standing there feeling as though someone had just slashed him open and left him for dead.

Author's Note: Ok, bad cliffy, but everything will come together next chap.

Anyway, not sure I will actually get this done on Sunday, going to see IM3 on Saturday and I doubt I'm going to have time to write, but I will try.

Disclaimer:

All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.