The ride back home seemed to take five times as long as the journey there. Jane was staring fixedly ahead, her hands rigid on the wheel. Darcy hadn't wanted to let her drive but she'd insisted.

Loki was staring sullenly out of the window on his side as Darcy glared angrily out of hers. The rain continued to beat incessantly against the window like it was racing to match the pounding of blood in her ears.

Occasionally her eyes wandered to Loki as though to see if he was looking at her but saw that his gaze was set firmly outside, lost in apparent thought.

When they finally arrived home Jane ran inside. Darcy followed as quickly as she could but she heard the door of her friend's room slam shut, the sound reverberating deafeningly throughout the house. The silence teemed with the humid air seemed somehow thicker, like it was forming a physical barrier far more effective than the door which prevented her from comforting her friend.

Annoyed, she threw herself onto the sofa, trusting to Loki to close the door.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them. She wanted to scream and cry at the same time but resolved to do neither, instead sat hollowly staring at nothing in particular.

She felt like she was being ridiculous. So what Loki had shown that he still despised her? Hadn't she known that all along? He may have enjoyed her company, apparently even been attracted to her but what use was that when at the very core he despised her for what she was? A human? It wasn't like she could change that and, she thought with defiance, she didn't want to. Just because he thought living like a human was a...what was it he'd said? A 'pitiful life'?

"I will not have you begging for me." His words rang her head, exactly the way he had said them. The soft curl of disgust on his lips, the loathing oozing from the sharpness of his every word. The way he'd emphasised "you" like she was something filthy, something less than he.

And she couldn't even find it in her to be properly angry with him because she felt like she had known this all along, had been kidding herself to believe anything different.

Did you not gather his utter contempt for humanity when he was yelling for them to kneel at his feet? She asked herself.

I thought it was an act. Something for the attention of his brother, of the family that had hurt him. I thought living with us might have changed that. After all how could someone with such deep self hatred as she sometimes glimpsed in him still believe he was better than everyone else? I thought he liked our friendship, I knew he despised the necessity of it but I thought he liked it, being able to actually talk to someone, someone who didn't hold his past against him.

Well, you foolish idiot, she told herself scornfully, you thought wrong.

Fine, she resolved, we're over. I'm not having sex with him if he's just putting up with my species to satisfy himself.

And as soon as she had said the words his others, from longer ago, came back to her. "I realised I would have resented anyone, be they human, Asgardian or any other species. Then it didn't particularly seem to matter."

So of course he didn't actually want to have feelings or attraction for anyone, understandable enough she supposed given that his preferred method of dealing with things was to build a wall and not let people get too close. She'd managed to get through that somehow but that didn't stop his inherent princely prejudices.

Jane was right, she thought, I can do better.

You don't want better. That truthful voice in her mind said.

Shut up, Brain. She retorted.

He walked in, she recognised his light footsteps though she didn't look up. He sat in his chair in the corner but he didn't speak.

She felt an itch of irritation. Why wouldn't he just leave her alone?

Or more importantly why had she gone to the living room rather than her bedroom if she wanted to be alone?

"Darcy?" He asked, she could discern a faint note of worry in his voice, though only, she thought, because she knew him so well.

"Mmm?" She replied, not trusting herself to look at him without shouting.

"Are you all right?"

"Fantastic." She snapped, the words coming out more abruptly than she'd realised.

"Right..." He said, his tone sarcastic. "You sound it."

"Oh shut up, Loki." She told him, cringing internally as she realised she was echoing Thor and Jane.

She felt rather than saw him shake his head in exasperation. "Fine." He said and fell back into silence. She paused in her mental contemplation of his words. Loki would never normally pass up an opportunity for sarcastic insults. Her eyes flicked to him briefly. He was staring at a spot on the wall, his sharp jaw was tilted up slightly so that his hair fell back like raven feathers. She was sure his thoughts were elsewhere.

After ten minutes he attempted to speak again. "May I ask what I have done?"

This time she did turn to look at him. "You actually have to ask?" She said, the words coming out before she could stop them. She didn't want to voice her concerns. She feared they would sound even pettier spoken than they did thought.

He thought for a moment. "Ah." He said as though suddenly realising. To her surprise he did not smile or mock her. "What I said about returning to Asgard."

"You don't want me begging for you?" She snapped, unable to stop herself.

"Darcy, please let-"

"What?" She asked shrilly, figuring that she'd already said too much to ignore it so she may as well confront him. "I'm good enough to sleep with and confide in but you're too embarrassed by me to let me speak to the Asgardians?"

"It's not that." He said quietly. It was his tone that made her pause. He was supposed to be shouting back his defences, not muttering them under his breath like he was ashamed of them.

"Then what is it?" She asked, her blue eyes like chips of ice as she watched him warily.

He ran his hand through his hair as he thought. It was an action so human her heart skipped a beat. His eyes met hers almost pleadingly.

"You must know that they will come...eventually." He said.

"Yes." She said. She'd been trying to ignore that fact but she couldn't deny it.

"You will already be targeted due to the binding charm." He said each word bitterly, spitting it out like it caused him pain. "They will no doubt attempt to use you."

"Okay..." She said, wondering what this had to do with the original question she had asked. Maybe he was trying to scare her with tales about Asgardians to get the questions of his contempt for humanity out of her mind?

He stood up and walked over to her. She was still huddled on the sofa so that she was looking up at him. As though he sensed how much she disliked that he sat down next to her, the tips of her toes nudging his leg slightly. She was suddenly remembered of the time they'd been ill on the same sofa, the way he'd flinched with disgust when she'd touched him now compared to the ease he sat with her now and the careful way he was looking at her.

She bit her lip to stop from conveying in her expression anything about what his proximity was doing to her.

He stared at her for a few seconds though she had no urge to prompt him, it was very obvious he was selecting his next words with care.

"Darcy they cannot find out about our relationship."

"Relationship?" She squeaked, unable to prevent herself. Perhaps relationship meant something different on Asgard than it did in America because she was certain it did not quite cover what she and Loki had.

"You are the first person to whom I have shared, have opened up to since long before I discovered my true parentage." His green eyes were intense on hers and she found herself unable to look away. "The first person I have truly cared for outside of my former family. If they found out your significance to me they would exploit that friendship. I have no doubt in my mind. They will have learnt that physical pain I am well accustomed to. You are a mortal, Darcy." And he did not say it with contempt but with undeniable truth and vulnerability, as though that one term was dangerous. "They will have no qualms with using you to..."

He stopped and looked away, apparently unable to continue. He didn't have to, though. She knew what he was saying, even if he couldn't finish it. The fact he'd told her anything was extremely unexpected, just this tiny glimpse into what lay behind the emotional walls he had built was more than she ever thought she would get.

She felt her anger melt away. She took his hand in hers, running her thumb reassuringly up and down the smooth skin of his fingers.

He glanced back to her at her touch. "I could not allow them to think that I held anything more for you than the disdain they would expect."

She leant across the sofa and wrapped her arms under his, resting her head in the crook between his shoulders and neck. She closed her eyes as he hugged her back, wanting to savour the moment of Loki admitting their friendship. In that moment she didn't care that it wasn't anything more, perhaps she ought to learn from Thor. With Loki, anything beyond malice was remarkable.

"I'm still angry with you." She said after a moment.

She felt his chest rise with laughter. "I would expect nothing less."

"Okay your turn." She said, pulling away to sit facing him on the sofa, her legs lying across it so that her feet tucked comfortably next to him.

"What?" He asked, looking at her with confusion.

"That talk with Thor obviously upset you too. It's Thorapy time with Darcy." She joked.

She could almost feel the wall he threw up but could only watch as his jaw tightened and he looked away in anger. "Why in the Nine Realms would such a talk with that oaf upset me?" He hissed.

She bit back the sarcastic answers and jokes that rolled so easily to the tip of her tongue. "You don't have to get annoyed with yourself for feeling something." She told him. "You can't just keep denying that you have emotions until they lead you into acts of genocide."

"I don't see that I have anything to talk about." He said, frowning in confusion. "My brother is an idiot and a fool. Nothing more."

"Okay, fine, act like you don't care about him. I saw the look on your face when he ignored you. Don't pretend like you don't crave his attention, even if he's angry with you." She told him, he continued to act as though what she was saying was false but she saw through the slight narrowing of his eyes that he recognised truth in her words. "If you don't want to talk about it then fine. I'm here for you though, if you ever want to."

"I'll bear that in mind." He said, aiming for his usual condescending tone but missing, his heart not quite in it. She could tell he would never willingly talk to her about it, she'd just have to ask again some other time. Maybe once the encounter with Thor wasn't so fresh in his mind.

"I'm going to check on Jane." Darcy said and he nodded again.

The walk to Jane's room was full of continuous guilty twinges that she hadn't checked on her earlier but she knew that Jane wouldn't have wanted her to.

She could hear her sobbing on the other side of the door as she nervously knocked. There was no reply but she hadn't told her to go away so Darcy let herself in.

She realised with a start that she'd never been in Jane's room before. It was light blue and cream, the bed pattern and curtains featured a gentle swirling pattern of the two colours. Science articles and papers littered the floor, the desk and every other available space. Jane's three degrees were framed over the chest of drawers but other than that she had nothing on the walls. On the bedside table was a framed photo of an eight year old Jane with her mom and dad which must have been taken shortly before they'd been killed in the car crash.

Jane was sat huddled on top of the bed, her head in her hands.

Darcy didn't even think before she sat on the bed and pulled her into her arms, hugging her as she cried.

"It's okay." She told her. Jane was shaking but she hugged her anyway. She'd learnt the hard way that there were few things worse than crying alone. Even if crying with company wasn't much better.

"I'm sorry." Jane muttered, wiping her eyes though they remained watery.

"Don't," Darcy replied. "You have nothing to apologise for."

"You must think I'm pathetic." She said, clearly not listening to her.

"Jane," Darcy said firmly. "You are not pathetic. You're in love, I mean, that might be pathetic..." Jane gave a watery laugh. "I get it, it can't be easy being in love with a God from another realm."

Jane bit her lip. "It's just...seeing him today. I didn't even get ten minutes with him, Darce. And what did I do? Got angry with him for leaving and shouted for him to take his brother back."

Darcy laughed. "Both perfectly reasonable things to do."

Jane smiled slightly though Darcy could tell she wasn't really amused. "What if he doesn't come back?"

"He will. Then again he was gone for two years last time..." Darcy only realised what she'd said when she saw the worried look on Jane's face. "Shit. Sorry. I'm really not good at this cheering up stuff am I?"

Jane laughed shakily.

"We can contact him again, can't we?" Darcy asked.

Jane shook her head as though at a loss for words. "You heard him, he said not to."

"And you're going to let that stop you?" Darcy asked, smiling slightly. "He's not exactly always right."

Jane shrugged. "I guess not, I mean the portal or bridge or whatever is far from finished."

"So we can do it again?" Darcy asked.

"That's another thing. The conditions that day; the storm, the humidity, the temperature, all the other factors that affect it. And most importantly the specific waves and currents...you know what? Let's just stick to 'all the things that affect it'," Jane said endearingly at the lost look on Darcy's face. "They all have to be so specific. It could take years."

"Well then what are you doing up here crying?" Darcy asked with a grin. "You have work to do!"

Jane nodded. "I guess you're right." She rolled off her bed and walked over to the computer on her desk. "I may as well get started."

"I've got it!" Jane yelled happily the next day at work.

Darcy turned to her in shock. "So much for years..."

"All the conditions! Even better than all the conditions! Selvig's there at the moment. He told me the laws of physics are literally shifting! We have to go!"

"Well where?" Darcy demanded.

"London!" Jane replied happily.

Darcy's mouth fell open. "I don't suppose you mean London, Connecticut do you?" She asked, she hadn't quite expected somewhere so far away.

"Nope. London, England." Jane said. "Why? Is that a problem?"

Once over the shock of it being so far away, Darcy was able to truly appreciate what that meant. "Problem? Are you kidding me? We get to go to Europe? And it's all paid by SHIELD?!"

"Yep." Jane said happily.

"Oh my God when do we leave?" Darcy asked.

"Next week, hopefully." Jane said.

"Oh my God I have to tell Matt." Darcy replied and ran out of the lab to where Matt was standing guard.

"Why were you so happy?" He asked, having watched them through the window.

"We're going to London!" She said, the words rapidly escaping her lips.

He frowned. "When?"

"Next week probably." Darcy said, grinning.

"Well that's great." He said, though he didn't sound it.

Darcy's grin fell away. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing." He said. "I'm just not that jealous. London sounds pretty dull to be honest. I mean yeah sure it's supposed to have history and stuff and I'm sure the architecture is great but I never particularly cared about any of that stuff. I just don't see the appeal."

"Yeah but dude it's England, hot guys with British accents."

Matt looked at her pointedly and she suddenly realised that despite being from Asgard, Loki was technically a hot guy with a British accent.

"Say nothing." She said grimacing. He laughed.

"All right, Darcy." He said. "You do realise it rains a lot in England, right?"

"It rains a lot in Connecticut too." She told him.

"If you think that's anything compared to England then you're in for a surprise." He said with a grin. "And it's February, that means frost as well, you'll break your neck with your co-ordination."

"Won't they grit the roads?" She asked.

He grinned. "I believe England is notorious for their poor handling of their weather."

Darcy waved away his complaints. "I'm going to England and I'm excited. A few details like that won't change anything."

"Wait," Matt stopped her. "When did you say you were going?"

"Next week." She repeated.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Before or after the seventh?"

She felt her eyebrows lift with shock. "You actually remembered? Who are you and what have you done with Matt?"

He laughed. "Priya wrote down everyone's birthdays. She's been reminding me for the past two weeks that I have to get you a present."

"And have you?" She asked curiously.

"Obviously not but if Priya asks of course I've ordered it." He said, his usual impish grin on his face. "So are you going to England before or after your birthday?"

"After, I guess." Darcy replied, picking at the edge of her jumper. "It doesn't really make much difference. As much as I'd love to go to Disneyland or clubbing in LA I'm afraid my birthday plans currently consist of films and a double date with Ben and Jerry."

Matt laughed. "Well I'd take you out but I think you're still technically under house arrest."

"I don't mind." Darcy said. "My birthday's just another day."

"I know you don't believe that." He said. "You made far too big a deal of it last year."

"Okay fine," She admitted. "I normally love my birthday but I'm trying to convince myself that it's no big deal if I'm doing nothing on the day that I turn twenty four so shush you are not helping."

"All right." He agreed. "But you have to tell me when the date is confirmed. There's no way you're running off to another continent without saying goodbye."

"Okay. I'd better get back." Darcy said.

She returned to Jane on the phone with someone, presumably Fury, trying to arrange flights and accommodation in London.

"What is this London?" Loki asked.

"A place in Europe, near Stuttgart." She said.

"I do not understand why you are so excited."

"Because it's Europe!" Darcy told him. "The only time I've ever been outside of America was when we went to Norway to hide from you. Kind of ironic really, hiding from a Norse God in the land the myths came from." She'd always wondered why he'd never come for them, after all he'd gone to Germany so geography clearly wasn't an issue. After finding out about how the Chitauri treated him though it was no surprise, he was forced to do it, given the choice of that or more torture. It wasn't the act of revenge against Thor SHIELD had thought it to be, though obviously he hadn't been exempt from having a bit of that as well what with Erik.

"And they speak like you there." She added.

"Excuse me?" He asked, looking affronted. He clearly thought this was some way of her insulting him.

"The same accent." A sudden thought occurred to her that she'd never wondered before. "Why do you have an English accent? And why do you even speak English?"

"I speak the common tongue." He explained. "It translates itself to the listener's own language. If you hear a specific accent it is the one most desirable to your ears."

"So say I had a thing for Irish accents..."

"Then no doubt you would hear that." He said. She had a sudden and comical image in her head of Loki giving his Stuttgart speech in a strong West Country accent.

"I think everyone hears English though." She argued.

He shrugged. "Then perhaps it translates to whichever accent most people would prefer. I do not pretend to know the exact details of it."

"I see." Darcy said. "Well I like your voice."

He smiled. "Good. Though I suppose that means I must fear your attraction to another with it in this London?"

Her eyes caught on his cheekbones, his strong jaw, his green eyes alight with mischief and framed by eyelashes she would have killed for. "You have absolutely nothing to worry about."


Chapter title from This Century's Young And Useless. Thank you for reading and reviewing.