Libertas
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes.
000
Loki and Darcy left the morning after their bar scene. The woman had to pull the covers off of him in the morning, to receive a rather unpleasant surprise.
"Ew! Dude! Why aren't you wearing pants?"
Loki peeked over his pillow and growled before grabbing his other pillow and pulling it over his head. He still had the light sheet covering him, so it wasn't as if she could tell whether or not he was completely pant-less. "Jeans are uncomfortable," he said, his voice muffles from the pillows.
"Well put them back on! We've got to leave or else I'm going to be hit with late checkout fees!" When he didn't budge, she sighed and reached out to one of his bandaged wounds. "At least let me change these—"
Loki yelped at her prodding, lurching away from her and reflexively swinging the top pillow roughly at her head. She had enough time to cover her face before it collided with her, sending her toppling off the edge of the bed. While she groaned from the floor, he scrambled to put his jeans on. "I do not appreciate being prodded like cattle!"
"I don't appreciate being hit in the face! I was just checking to see if you stopped bleeding! Stop acting like a brat and let me cut the bandages off!"
The former god snapped his mouth shut at the term 'brat' and sat back down on the bed. Darcy took that as a sign and went to get her small scissors.
Loki had thought that all mortals (especially women) to be… compliant—obedient. However, his chauffer yelled at him as much as Odin had when he was a child. She even used the same term: brat.
He was immediately pulled from his thoughts when he felt the cool metal of her cutting tool moving under the bandage. Darcy gingerly removed the worn gauze from his chest, throwing it right away, into the nearby trash bin.
"I guess you have some sort of… magical healing power or something," she said thoughtfully, touching a few areas that had pretty much closed up over night. "You're still injured, but this should've taken weeks to heal. You'll probably scar, but hey, scars are sexy."
Loki looked over at her with her last comment, a brow raised. She blushed and laughed awkwardly, in a high pitch, false tone. She refused to meet his eyes and furiously buried herself in re-bandaging his current wounds.
"How long until we get to Thor?" Loki asked and stood, checking the tightness of his wrappings.
"Depends on how fast I drive, I guess. It's like a twenty-five hour drive or something from here, I think, so we might have to stop for two nights. We'll be in New York by night three, unless something big stops us. I'm packed. Toss on a shirt and let's get on the road!" Darcy jumped up, snatching her duffle bag from her bed.
Loki watched as she walked righ tout the door, leaving him a few moments of privacy. When he was sure that she wouldn't simply burst back through, he carefully reached beneath his bed to withdraw a rather large pocket knife.
So maybe his attack on the bar thug hadn't had purely noble intentions behind it.
He just couldn't handle the idea of being in a world filled with mortals he had tried to kill without even a slight form of defense. Into his pocket it went, stashed away for safekeeping. Loki put on a clean, grey shirt (Darcy had already taken back the black,) slipped on his socks and shoes, then prepared himself for the long, inevitably loud car ride ahead of him.
They drove for almost twelve straight hours, stopping only for food and restrooms. Darcy was, apparently, the queen of cross country road trips. She had traveled nearly every summer with her parents then her friends in her college years. It was almost a hobby of hers.
Loki couldn't complain about the lack of space. He had spent so much time in prison that he would probably have a harder time going for a run than sitting for half a day.
When they finally chose a motel to take an overnight hiatus at, Loki went in with Darcy to pay. The woman doing the booking gave them an annoyed look and made a remark about putting them far away from other patrons to keep noise complaints to a minimum.
"How thoughtful," Darcy commented as they left the entryway, "now we can have all of the noisy, raunchy, illegal sex we want without bothering anyone."
"Good," Loki said without missing a beat, "because we both know how loud you are." He smiled back at the receptionist before pulling the door shut with a rough slam!
"I hope you were kidding…" Darcy said as they exited and started up the stairs outside.
"As if I know anything your sex life, woman," Loki replied, waving her off. She stared at him for a few moments. " 'As if I know anything of your sex life, Darcy.'"
"Much better. Look at you, making a joke. I think you're warming up to me," she laughed as they reached their door. It was on the second floor and at the far end of the motel.
"No," Loki replied quickly, "I just naturally have a sense of humor. When you're captured and beaten by the Chitauri and forced to crash land on earth, the opportunity for tomfoolery is minimal. It has nothing to do with you."
"You're a real lady killer, aren't you Ves?"
"…"
000
"Just try it," Darcy insisted.
"No, I don't want it," Loki said, stepping away from the woman. "I just want a drink."
"Is that all you do? Drink? Take it. I'll pick you up a six pack on the way back."
The pair had gone to a cheap diner for dinner. It had been quiet, but Loki had managed to drive the waitress up a wall with all of his questions. When she finally away, he admitted to Darcy that he found the waitress's accent to be humorous.
When they left, an ice cream parlor down the block was just getting ready to close. Darcy sprint in and bought two ice cream cones—chocolate for her and strawberry for him. He refused to take the sweet treat.
"Twelve pack," he bargained, "six is not enough if we split."
"What are you? A raging alcoholic?"
"My people drink a lot, it's practically water," Loki shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets, shifting back and forth on the balls of his feet. Darcy rolled her eyes.
"I have to drive anyhow. You can have five, and I will have one, okay? Take the damned ice cream cone! It's melting on me!"
Loki hadn't wanted a dozen—he had wanted four, so he of course shot out a high number. He took the ice cream and continued walking towards their motel, leaving Darcy behind. She mumbled, "jerk," and ran to catch up with his long strides.
They easily stuck out in the area. He was over six feet tall, with long-ish black hair, and some bandages sticking out from his cuffed up flannel. She was quite a bit shorter and waving an ice cream cone around. After a few moments of awkward silence (she could tell he was thinking deeply,) he spoke. "Why did you pick me up in the desert? I could've been a treat to you, yet you didn't hesitate to care for me." He was clearly puzzled, and Darcy was sure he had been trying to work out her rationale in his head.
"Most people would think I'm crazy," Darcy said with a smile, "but you're just like Thor. He fellfrom the sky, and we helped him then too. If we hadn't, maybe our town would have been leveled. Maybe the Avengers wouldn't have been formed. Maybe the Chitauri would've won, what, a year ago? It's like the butterfly that caused a hurricane. One person's actions, or, you know, not actions, could mean the difference between life and death
You could've died, but I thought it was better to help you. You're alone in an unfamiliar world. What is someone bad had found you first?" She sighed and won't back to eating her ice cream cone. "Plus," she muttered, "sure as hell worked out for Jane…"
Loki intentionally took his time finishing his treat—just so he didn't have to speak. She was surely expecting a thank you, but he couldn't do it. They caught in his throat when he tried, and all that came out was a, 'mmm,' and a nod in understanding.
As promised, Darcy picked up a six pack of something. She nursed one for a while. Loki didn't bother holding back. By the time he hit number three, he was forced to slow down. Apparently, his mortal body had some limits.
"I don't understand," he said, pointing at the screen they were watching, "it these pirates have guns, why do they insist on fighting with swords? Why don't people push their enemies overboard? When they're swinging around, why don't they cut the rope?"
"Well, because! We wouldn't have an entertaining movie if they did that stuff!" Darcy said, frustrated. All he had done was complain or question everything she put on the TV. Picking up the remote, she started flipping for something he wouldn't complain about. She settled on the news when she saw the 'LIVE' scroll across the top.
"—yes Maggie, I'm here at a local motel where a wanted criminal has been spotted. He has a woman with him, but we have not received her identity. Additionally, forces are unable to determine if she's a hostage or an accomplice. A trail has been left behind of bills in her name but—wait! The SWAT force is getting ready to move in—"
"… that, uh, looks an awful lot like our motel… I'm pretty sure that's Cheryl parked there—" Darcy said slowly, suddenly becoming aware of her situation tensing up.
As she turned to look at Loki and question her traveling companion, the SWAT lights were in their window and their door was kicked open.
"Don't move or we'll shoot!"
000
Additional Notes(two): forgive the delay in updating. Work has been catching up to me. I also had to take a little bit of time to do SlenderStuff, costume stuff, and, well, work stuff. Hopefully, I still have some readers out there! Please let me know what you think!
Thanks everyone! A_F