The sunlight filtered lazily through the hazy curtains pulled across the windows of Darcy's room. She woke slowly, gradually becoming aware of the body next to her, the arms draped around her and the gentle breathing mingling with the sound of the wind outside.

She opened her eyes indolently, realising that she hadn't woken so calmly in months. She sighed in contentment and nuzzled further into Loki's arms. She realised that as soon as he woke up he'd probably run a mile so she was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

"Darcy?" His voice murmured in her ear half an hour later.

"Hmm?" She breathed.

"What time is it?" He asked. Her peaceful feeling stopped rather abruptly. That wasn't quite the question she thought he would have asked.

"Late morning?" She suggested judging by the winter sunlight filling the room.

"Hmm." Loki answered, sounding slightly surprised.

"I guess that's quite early for you?" She teased.

He let out a sharp breath of amusement which tickled her shoulder. "More surprised that I slept through the night."

She rolled over in his arms so that she was facing him and scowled. "Do you not normally?"

"Not quite." He answered, trailing his fingers across her bare skin absent-mindedly and she felt the ghost of last night's shivers tremble across her. "You have been holding out on me."

She looked at him sceptically. "How so?"

He smirked, his eyes running from her face to the top of her breasts, just visible from above the duvet. "I believe you told me you did not look good in the mornings."

A blush crept across her cheeks so she leant further into his muscular chest to avoid him seeing. The smell of his skin filled her nose and she had to refrain from inhaling that particular euphoria too deeply. "It's the absence of the cookie monster pyjamas." She said with a smile.

She felt rather than heard his laugh as his chest lifted.

"Besides," She added, starting on the subject that she still didn't fully understand. "I thought you didn't do mortals."

Loki laughed. "I believe I provided evidence to quite the contrary last night."

Darcy grinned but didn't let him see. When she managed to pull her lips taut again she leant away from him again, his hands still draping over her waist but with a slight distance between them. "And quite the change of mind it was too."

"Meaning?" He inquired.

She raised her eyebrows and tried not to sound too whiny as she spoke. "Meaning when I kissed you at the Christmas party you pulled away."

"Darcy, you were intoxicated." He said gently, his thumb still circling her waist.

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "And what, you wouldn't take advantage of that?" Somehow she did not quite believe it. Wasn't his whole MO taking advantage of people?

His eyes hardened as he looked at her, a sudden seriousness to his gaze. "I did not want you for just one night."

She bit her lip. "So what changed?"

His thumb stilled on her waist, her skin underneath prickled with goosebumps. "I decided that one night with you would be preferable to none at all."

Her blush deepened. "I wasn't drunk." She mumbled. "At the party. I mean, give me some credit, it takes a lot more than a few drinks to get me drunk. I was practically sober."

Loki scowled. "Then I still do not understand. I assumed that your inhibitions were lowered. I could find no other feasible explanation for your acts."

She smiled impishly and placed a hand on his abs. She never would have expected him to be quite so cut, it was a very pleasant surprise. "And you don't think your rippling abs provide explanation for that?"

His hand left her waist and took the one that was still lying gently on his chest. She looked up from his muscles and found his eyes looking at her with shocking intensity the way he had before he'd kissed her last night. "I did not quite think my past acts of attempted world domination would have endeared you towards me."

Darcy smiled. "I never said it made any sense. Then again the same could be said for you wanting to fuck a lowly mortal." She added sarcastically.

Loki bit his lip. "I admit at first I resented the attraction."

"And you suddenly felt a great love of humanity?"

He laughed. "Hardly. I realised I would have resented anyone, be they human, Asgardian or any other. Then it didn't particularly seem to matter."

"Umm sorry, is that supposed to be a compliment or something? 'I hate humanity but you are the exception?'" She mimicked him.

"Not quite my exact wording," He said with a slight grin. "Though I suppose you have captured the sentiment."

"You can't just insult my species and then make exceptions. That's kind of racist." She told him.

He smirked as though he were tolerating her.

She clenched her teeth but refrained from rolling her eyes. She somehow doubted she could lecture him into loving humanity. "So why last night?"

"You acted while I knew you to be sober." He answered.

"The mistletoe?" She asked. "But I could have just been acting or something."

"Yes but you are an appalling liar." He replied with a smirk.

This time she did roll her eyes. "Jerk." She muttered. He grinned at her. "Uh, Loki?" She asked. "There are no...cameras or anything in here, right?"

"No." He said. "Worry not, no one need know what happened."

"Pfft," Darcy retorted. "I don't care about that. I just don't want anyone actually watching."

"You do not care about anyone knowing?" He asked, raising a sceptical eyebrow at her.

She grinned at him. "Why not? They all think it's happening already. Why not make it actually true? Give them something to really talk about."

His eyes narrowed at her in bewilderment. "You mean continue this when we return to New Mexico?"

"Yeah." She answered firmly before realising that he might not actually want to. For all his 'one night' stuff he may have changed his mind. Oh well, she thought, if he didn't she'd already pushed it over the limit. She may as well proceed. "Dude, this is far too much fun to stop. I mean, purely no strings attached, friends with benefits stuff. None of that romantic crap. Just the sex."

His eyes widened in surprise. "You actually wish to proceed?"

Darcy rolled her eyes in exasperation. YOU ARE SEXY AS HELL AND GOOD IN BED, OF COURSE I WANT TO KEEP SCREWING YOU! She wanted to scream. "No. I changed my mind." She said, a playful smile on her face. "I think I need more convincing."

He laughed, leaning towards her. "Well, if you insist."

"I'm having a shower." She said later, rolling out of bed. He watched her, his gaze half admiring and half prideful. An 'Yep, I chose well' kind of look that made her skin tingle with the memory of his exploring lips. She was kind of sore like she'd exercised too much the day before but she was determined not to wince or anything as she moved because she really didn't think he needed another confidence boost.

She grabbed her towel off of the chair she'd thrown it unceremoniously onto while rifling through her suitcase the day before. "We have a plane to catch this evening." She carried on, placing her hands on her hips though realising that she might not be quite so intimidating given that she was, well, naked.

"You will be on that plane." She said firmly. "So I suggest you go pack or whatever."

Loki rolled his eyes. "Yes ma'am." He muttered sardonically.

Grinning, Darcy went into the bathroom. Darcy normally took showers that were as hot as she could possibly stand but the shower didn't go up very high, the pathetic drizzle could barely be called warm. She felt like she hadn't managed to effectively wash last night from her but she found she didn't mind as much as she normally would.

She dressed into her usual jumper and jeans and went into the main room. Loki, dressed once again in his usual leather, was lounging on the sofa, the book Darcy had given him in his hands.

The kitchen was part of the living room, separated only by a long counter. Darcy's stomach was the kind of empty that surpasses growling straight into a dull ache that clawed at her insides. The kitchen was practically empty but she managed to find ingredients for pancakes so she figured that would have to do for their Boxing Day meal.

"Who did you say this book belonged to?" Loki called, not looking up from it.

"Ummm," Darcy thought while stirring the batter. "Elliot Randalph I think Skye said his name was. I assume that's not his real name." Darcy grinned, momentarily amused by the idea of an Asgardian warrior called Elliot. "He was some warrior, I think. It was a big thing on the news a while ago, something about a beseecher staff or something."

"A beserker staff?" Loki asked hurriedly, sitting up, his body rigid with tension.

"Yeah I think so."

"One exists on Midgard?" He asked, a hungry gleam in his eye.

"No." She told him, jabbing her wooden spoon threateningly in his direction as she realised what he was hinting at. "No, you are not getting access to it. No powerful weapons for you. Besides, it was destroyed."

Loki looked slightly disappointed for a moment but he quickly smiled again. "What happened when it was found?"

"Some cult wrecked Oslo." Darcy stated simply, refusing to give any extra details because he probably got off on that kind of destruction.

"There was a tale on Asgard of a Beserker warrior who went missing." Loki told her and when she glanced up again she saw that he was lying back down, his eyes scanning the pages of the book.

"What are they?" She asked.

"Specially selected warriors. Beserker staffs transform anger and rage into extra strength and often agility." He told her.

"Yep." She said firmly. "Definitely not letting you near one of those."

He laughed. "Don't you trust me, Darcy?"

She could tell he already knew her answer. "Absolutely not." She said simply and truthfully.

She poured the batter into a pan and set to trying to work the oven out. She didn't do very well with appliances that were not her own.

"And speaking of the might of Asgard," Darcy said, having looked for an opportunity to ask him before this but never being anywhere that there was no chance of SHIELD hearing. She figured the absence of recording equipment made this an ideal place. "No sign of Sif or the Asgardian armies."

"No." Loki agreed, idly flicking a page in the book. "It appears my brother was successful at stalling her. Though knowing Sif it is only a matter of time until she thinks of a reason to tell the Allfather."

"And then what?" Darcy asked, having managed to turn the oven on.

Loki exhaled softly. "Then Asgard begin searching Midgard for me."

"Do you think they'll find you?" She asked.

"Yes." Loki replied bluntly. "On their own it could take years. The problem exists in that when SHIELD discover their intentions...well they are hardly going to keep me hidden."

Darcy felt momentarily awkward. Just a few months ago even she would be supporting them in the idea of chucking Loki straight back to Asgard.

"I don't know," She reasoned. "They might quite like having a God on their side. I think they'd protect you. For a bit at least."

"I am not 'on their side.'" He said, his words clipped in annoyance. She folded her arms and glared at him. Unfortunately, he did not look up from his book to see her annoyance. "And even if I were, the choice between being allies with myself and with the might of Asgard is a simple one to make, even mortals could rationalise such a decision."

"Are you just prejudiced against every single species?" Darcy asked, shaking her head in exasperation. "Anyway, what will you do when they come?"

Loki was silent for a few moments. "I do not know." He admitted at last, as though embarrassed at the lack of manipulative plans.

Not wanting to push the subject any further, Darcy changed tact. "And have you heard any more from the people who attacked SHIELD?"

Loki stilled. "No." He said.

Darcy narrowed her eyes at him. "And will you tell me if you get any?"

"Of course." He said quickly.

Yeah I don't believe you, she thought. She knew that pushing him on the topic would just make him more likely to shut her out. She placed the pancakes onto two plates, grabbed some cutlery and walked over to him.

"Here." She said, putting it on the coffee table for him before taking a seat on the sofa opposite the one he was sprawled on. The first bite slithered down her throat like she hadn't eaten in days. It was probably because she'd eaten so much the day before.

"And the magic bond?" She asked. "You said it was only temporarily broken, right? When does it come back?"

"It would remain broken for no more than a month." Loki told her. Darcy thought back. She'd technically only been awake for a week and a half but Jane had said she'd been unconscious for three weeks. The bond would be back then. "Though I suggest we do not test it in order to check." Loki added and Darcy remembered the pain of walking into the barrier.

"No." She agreed. "Definitely not. And uh Loki?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you break it in the first place?"

His eyes stopped moving across the page. "I believe I informed you of the threats." He said slowly as though carefully calculating each word.

Darcy quickly swallowed more pancake. "Yeah but, like, why did you think breaking the bond would help?"

Loki sighed and closed his eyes. He creased the corner of the page and placed it carefully on the table before sitting up to look at her. "I assumed that if I broke the link between us then I would be able to leave in search of the sender of the threats and put a stop to them."

"But?" She asked.

"But you did not recover as I expected from my breaking the charm. I...I wished to stay. To ensure you were healed before I left as it was I who had caused your injuries. And, moreover, I did not think it prudent to test the success of my attempt to break the bond while you were weakened." He told her.

She felt oddly touched. He had, even then, been concerned. "But wait," She said, realising a sudden flaw in his plan. "How can you go after the guy who sent you the threats when you don't have magic?"

It was true his magic had gotten a lot better. He'd gone from exhausting them both with illusions of spiders, though she still shuddered at the thought, to being able to fight off twenty people less than twenty four hours after teleporting them. Still, she didn't think that would mean he was able enough to take on some super being who could communicate telepathically.

Loki looked away briefly as though thinking of his next words.

"Stop sifting through the information you have to find something worth telling me." She snapped at him.

He laughed and looked at her smiling. "The truth is that I had hoped, at the least, to draw them away from you." She froze in shock at his words until he carried on. "I had hoped by distancing myself they would ignore you. By injuring you they could have injured me and it would be much easier to capture you."

"So is that why they came searching for me?" She asked. "They'd assumed you'd gone?"

Loki's eyebrows rose quickly in surprise. "Yes, I suppose so."

So they had Asgardians and some telepathic dude after them? Not to mention some magical bond that meant she was in all this with Loki whether she wanted to be or not? The threat of imprisonment from one and torture from the other. And at least one of them completely unavoidable.

Darcy found herself laughing. Loki looked at her curiously.

"Oh God, Loki." She laughed. "What are we going to do?"

He smiled secretively, a knowing look like an inside joke only he understood.

Unperturbed, she continued laughing. "Oh wow, we are so fucked."

Chapter title from Divided By Friday's Face To Face. I know this is a short chapter but this is my third update in a week, I'm practically spoiling you all. Think of it as a "my coursework is done and I'm free until exams!" celebration gift. Also I'm on half term so (fingers crossed) I will be able to write loads. Thank you so much for reading, reviewing and the few messages I've received on tumblr, you guys are so cute. I hope you like it.