AN: Short chapter. Sorry things have been slow and the chapters have been so short; there's going to be a plot explosion in the next installment and I want it to be perfect.

Chapter Twenty-One

Loki mindlessly ran his thumb across Darcy's knee, his eyelids threatening to slide shut. In the wake of his long journey, he had elected to skip dinner in the main hall in favor of retreating to his and Darcy's room with handfuls of fruit "borrowed" from the kitchens downstairs. Loki had sprawled, exhausted, across Darcy's lap as they began talking. Somewhere in the middle of his Coyote story, Darcy started stroking Loki's hair, which did nothing to alleviate the warm, sleepy feeling spreading through his bones.

Just as he was about to doze off, Darcy broke the silence. "What happened with Hermes?"

"Hm?"

"Nobody from Olympus agreed to help you. What happened? I thought you and Hermes were bros."

Loki smiled weakly. "Interesting way of putting it," he said. He sighed and sat up, rubbing a hand across his face. "He didn't want to help me."

"Well, I figured that part out," Darcy said. "I meant, why didn't he want to help you?"

Loki grimaced. "Hermes was...unsympathetic to Jane and Thor's cause."

Darcy blinked, not understanding. "Okay..."

"He lost his son," said Loki, before she could ask any more questions.

Darcy's face crumpled. "Oh," she said in a small voice.

"There was a prophecy," he explained, "about his son, Luke. He tried to prevent its coming-true, but there was nothing he could do. His son became evil, possessed by a being known as Kronos who threatened to take over the world as we know it."

"What happened?"

"He almost succeeded," said Loki simply. "New York was nearly destroyed." Loki swallowed. "But he fought back."

"Who?" Darcy asked. "Hermes?"

"No. Luke. When confronted with the girl he loved, he managed to regain control of his senses long enough to tell his old friends how to stop Kronos."

Darcy smiled. "That doesn't sound too bad. Sounds like a bedtime story. You know: love conquers all."

"I'm afraid not," he said. "Luke was killed. It was the only way."

"You mean he turned good before he died, even though he knew that he would be killed?"

"As you may recall," Loki pointed out, "it has been done before."

Darcy shivered. "Don't remind me." Loki felt her arms wrap tightly around his waist, as if by holding on to him she protect him from being put in harm's way. "I can't even imagine how hard that must be," she continued after a short pause.

He frowned. "How so?"

"I mean...I know how it feels to lose someone you love. But I can't imagine losing a child, how painful that would be."

Loki rested his chin atop Darcy's head. "Nor can I." He kissed her hair. "I'm rather tired from my journey, love. Tell you about Puck tomorrow?"

"Yep," Darcy said. She leaned up to kiss him, and then stood up. "I'm going to get changed," she said.

Loki nodded. As Darcy went into the bath chamber next to their room, he yanked back the covers, magicked his armor into a pair of pants, and sprawled out on the bed. He lay still with his eyes closed for a long moment. He breathed deeply, inhaling the smell of Darcy's perfume that lingered on the pillow.

His armor…

His eyes opened suddenly.

Going to get changed, Darcy had said. Why would she want or need to go into the next room to put on her sleep attire when she could simply use magic?

"Loki…"

He sat up and turned to look at the doorway to the bath chamber. He swallowed. Darcy had gotten changed, but what she was wearing was definitely not meant for sleeping.