Chapter Fifty-Three: Minimize
The Avengers scoured the parking lot and its perimeter while Natasha rested in Barton's arms on the concrete. They sounded off when they'd cleared a section, never indicating any surprise at not finding anything. The exercise was protocol but there was only about a one percent chance that Loki had stuck around to fight. Probably even less that that. Fury had hung back to communicate with the surveillance agents. He was frustrated, though that wasn't much of a shock to anyone. This whole debacle was continuously snowballing more stress onto his back and he was feeling now like his spine would snap. It appeared that Agent Stevens had only told his night crew the bare minimum and Fury had to keep catching them up point by point as he asked for things. After everything that happened, his reputation was at stake. He'd vouched for his team, he knew they could stop the invasion without having to turn countless innocent lives to dust. They had done so, yes, but the slippery green weasel had popped out of their grasp countless times now. Thankfully, no more people had died. Yet, he thought grimly as a female surveillance agent fed intel into his ear-all of it he already knew or couldn't use.
Darcy was sitting in the stairwell with her back against the wall and her legs stretched out and crossed snugly along a solitary step. Her stomach was cramped with hunger and a persistent headache pulsed at the very back of her head. Even so, she felt relatively happy. Maybe it was the exhaustion disguising itself as contentment as her body prepared for the sleep she so desperately craved now. Dealing with Loki had been a roller coaster and the boredom of being trapped in her bathroom was draining in its own way. Then she'd stubbornly chased Steve around like a lovesick teenager spurned by the quarterback. That was freshest in her mind. When Barton had spotted them bickering, of course he'd tried to pull her away for questioning. Yet she was resilient, she didn't want to deal with any of that until her issue with Cap was resolved.
In a way, it had been sweet. Steve was trying to get away from her only because he was upset, it was really because he felt rejected. She said everything she felt, even if they were only vague feelings, in every way she could think to. His mind was stuck on the turned-down track. Barton eventually became preoccupied with his phone but still followed them loosely, then he started to watch her very closely. Darcy didn't then know, and she still didn't at the present moment, why that had been. So when she'd opted for a more aggressive route and roughly commanded the soldier to stop and listen to her, Barton started to run towards her. She thought he was just trying to bring her to Fury, which she would have done willingly afterward anyway. She felt a rush of now-or-never and grabbed the sides of Steve's face with a firm tenderness. Then she tried to pull him into her, but he was solid as a rock and she only managed to draw her own face up to his instead. The kiss was brief but meaningful, and it made her point abundantly clear. She could tell from the dreamy gaze his eyes held that he was uplifted, so she'd turned to Barton to let him take her. But what she found instead was the sight of his back as he sprinted to the elevators. Before she could indulge herself in her crush again, Steve was listening intently to his earpiece. She could hear Barton yammering down the hall and it faded away as he boarded the elevator. As another impending disaster loomed near, she wondered what Steve would say since there was no helpless puppy to ask her to keep an eye on anymore. Then something happened that had filled her heart to the brim. He'd taken her hand and said "Come on," before filling her in as they raced to the stairs. Her elation made it so that she couldn't feel the pain in her legs from trying to keep up with him. He'd told her to stay behind him and keep an eye out for mischief. For the first time, she'd felt like a valuable member of the team.
So it didn't hurt to be alone in the cold, grey stairwell. It was better in hundreds of ways than being pandered to and sent to her room at any sign of danger. Not that she could do much in the way of fighting, anyway. Still, it felt lovely to be adjacent to the action instead of given some task to keep her busy. Being separated from the group could have actually been what made Loki target her. She believed his words, too, when he'd sworn to make her invisible and inaudible forever. How she was going to face the team without being able to shed any light on what happened would be difficult to say the least. For the time being, she ignored the concerns that tugged at her weakly, shooing them with force using the memory of that fantastic kiss.
The group trickled back to the area by the elevator doors with nothing to report. Fury, knowing there'd be no trace of the escapee but hoping, looked to each of them in turn. They all shook their heads definitively, only once each in the hopes that he wouldn't ask them any questions. Their silence brought a ringing to his ears. "Well," Fury chipped, almost a taunt, "Now we do the whole building."
"Not a chance," Tony laughed defiantly. To everyone's surprise, Barton kept his mouth shut.
"Say he is still in the building," Bruce's tone was reasonable, causing Tony to roll his eyes. "Stop that," Banner barked, "I'm not advocating his cause, let me finish. Even if he were, he could just fucking pop to a floor we've already checked as we're doing it. Over and over again as many times as he likes. There's no way we could close in on him even if he was always visible, sticking his tongue out at the cameras. But let's be serious, he's not still here. He was trying to get away undetected and he failed. But he still got away, there's no way he didn't."
"Alright, then what's your plan?" Fury demanded hotly.
"How about we go the fuck to sleep?" Tony suggested through gritted teeth.
"What about-"
"We could stand here all night spouting reason after reason why we should just keep at it, keep on plugging away at this. But we need to get some rest so we can be ready for whatever's coming tomorrow," Bruce made sure all his words were crisp and serious. At this point, Darcy had heard them debating and slipped through the door to join the discussion.
Natasha squirmed a bit and her eyes opened wide as she remembered bits and pieces. "Did you rescue Jane?"
"We haven't seen Jane, not yet, we're working on it," Tony assured.
"Actually," Barton's voice was hesitant, guilty, "Loki took her."
"What?!" Fury snapped.
"Nat told me she was in the car with him," he explained.
"Natasha, what else-"
"Not now! She can fill us in tomorrow."
"What if something happens to Jane?" Fury asked. "Do you think Thor would ever forgive us for giving up?"
"We're not giving up, we need to regroup. We need to recharge! Literally! I'm part robot! What if something happens to Jane tomorrow and we can't help because we're useless scatterbrains who spent all night looking for something that wasn't there!" Tony shouted.
Natasha winced at the noise and Barton looked around the group. "Darcy," he addressed her in a hushed voice, "can you get Natasha to my room?"
Darcy wordlessly accepted the task gladly. This time, it didn't feel like she was being thrown a task no one else wanted to do. She helped the spy up. She seemed very out of it as she leaned into her helper for support.
"Shouldn't she go to her own room?" Fury bit with a snarky, disapproving frown.
Barton addressed Darcy only, who looked back with worry. "My room is fine, go on, thank you," he was calm, possibly calmer than he'd ever been. The group exchanged glances like they had no doubt they were in the eye of the storm. The elevator doors closed and Barton stood, brushing the dust off his all black getup. Then he was squared up to Fury, rigid and stern.
"I need you to stop acting like you don't know Nat and I are together. I can handle Stark's quips, I can handle the weird way Banner doesn't know what the fuck to say to either of us. But you? It's not that you don't know, you very obviously do. It's like you want some formal announcement or a wedding invitation. We're fucking and I think I might just love her and she's not your daughter so I don't care what you think about it," He started coldly. Fury was stoic as always. "I know you think I'm going to yell at you, fly off the handle and scream. I'm not. I feel a great deal of clarity. You wanna talk about what if's? You're over here saying oh what if something happens to Jane and that's a valid concern. But how about this? What if something happened to Natasha? What if, instead of beaten and bullied you tacked bullet wounds onto the end of that already horrible list? What if she'd died, Nick? What then? And you know that motherfucker would do it. He'd laugh. You're always thinking like you've got to save the world every minute of every day, protect against every horrible possibility, and fine, great, someone's gotta do it, right? You're the bad guy, you bark the orders, and you own it, buddy. But you need to take a step back and think like a human being. I know you care about her in whatever way you're capable. And her blood will stain the ground here, now. The next time I come to you and say her life is on the line, you need to listen. That freak is going to do what he's going to do, the least we can do is stay alive to minimize the damages. He's going to get cocky and he's going to slip up. I want us all there to bring him in, just like last time. So you're going to go to your room and lay in bed and think about what almost happened. I know it hurts and you're the big man on campus, gotta keep those feelings reigned in. But you need to be alone with this so you can face it. Not make us run around pointlessly all night to postpone that ugly talk you're gonna have to have with yourself once the lights in your bedroom are off."
If any of Barton's honest words had gotten through to Fury, he didn't make it known. His poker face was consistent as he said, "Fine. Get some sleep. Adjust your piss poor attitudes," and retreated up the stairs.
Elsewhere
Darla stood awkwardly by the couch as Thor spoke to Jane in hushed tones. The only light on in the house was back in Eve's bedroom, and it was a dim bedside lamp at that. The house was extra quiet after Thor and Loki's heated banter. She looked around cautiously, it was painfully clear that she was never supposed to set foot beyond the doorway. Sometimes, she forgot herself. In desperate efforts to escape from her ever timid disposition, she'd over corrected. Even if she was just a normal person who could handle social situations with ease, she doubted she'd ever be the girl to walk straight into the line of fire. Today she'd tried to be, and for what purpose? She felt silly most of all, even more than the relief she felt to still be alive.
"Will you help me get her home?" Thor asked, his deep voice piercing the still night air.
"Yes," Darla's voice was drained but not reluctant. She thought for a moment and added, "Then can you help get me home?"
"That shouldn't be a problem," he agreed and made his way to the kitchen to have some water. Darla and Jane followed him sheepishly and he poured them glasses of their own. After a few messy gulps, Jane dropped her glass onto the tile, cracking it into jagged slices. She bent to pick it up. "No, no, leave it," he instructed warily, straightening her gently.
"I wasn't done," she pouted.
"You may have some of mine," he offered and filled his half-full cup to the top for her. He helped her drink the contents of the glass and placed it delicately in the sink. Darla put hers down beside it, studying Jane's childish smile-which now had streaks of water from the corners. She stretched her shirt sleeve over her palm and wiped them for her.
"What did Loki do to her?" She inquired.
"He cast a spell called suavis. It makes her agreeable and naive. It's not harmful as long as someone is with her," he explained.
"Will it be safe to leave her alone when you bring me home?"
"Yes, she'll sleep more soundly than she ever has in her life. Let's head out now, though, to ensure the spell doesn't fade before she sleeps. This entire experience will feel like a dream to her. Can you drive?"
"I can, but my car is-" Darla was hit by a wave of panic. "My car is still in the SHIELD lot! How am I going to get to work tomorrow? It's already so late, but maybe if I go to sleep right when I get home I can get up early enough to walk-"
"You won't need to walk. We'll talk about it after we get her home. Find Eve's car keys, I don't know if Jane would fare well if I flew her. Especially if I have both of you." Darla checked all the counter and table tops and then began looking for a bowl or wall hook they could be hanging on. She had no luck with this and retreated to the bedroom with its pale light. She couldn't find them on the bedside table or dresser, the room remained partially destroyed. She felt some anxiety about returning without the keys and was considering double checking every obvious spot when Thor called, loudly, for her. She raced back to the living room. "Did you find them?" He demanded urgently.
"No, I-"
"Okay, I'm going to fly her home," he grabbed Jane up into his arms and carried her out the door. "Wait here," he supplemented sternly. With no further explanation, he whirled Mjolnir around and bounded toward the stars.
Darla collapsed onto the couch now that she was alone. She focussed on her breathing and closed her eyes. The darkness behind her eyelids was much more terrifying than the moonlight. Her surroundings fell quiet and eerie still in real time. The front door creaked on its hinges in the wind. Then she wondered how long he would be gone. "It's okay," she attempted to soothe herself. "Not long now and you'll be home. Not long now and you'll be in bed. Not long now and-" it'll be tomorrow and you'll have to lie to Nick. The thought was too horrible to say out loud. "Well, now, you don't have to lie, do you? That was just a suggestion. Who knows if Eve was telling the truth? Come on, Darla, think, you don't want to mess this up."
So she debated with herself. She felt like she didn't have enough information. She didn't have any, really, at least not from a reliable source.
More than half an hour went by at a crawling pace before Thor returned. He landed roughly on the lawn and staggered in looking weathered. "Everything okay?" Darla questioned and bolted upright, trying not to sound too glad at his arrival.
"She was starting to slip out of the spell," Thor explained. "She asked me where we were when you went to search the bedroom. I had to disorient her. The flight helped, but it was hard to get her to into bed. She agreed after a struggle, but she wouldn't even let me take her shoes off. I sat with her, she fell into slumber immediately. Kind of sweet, actually, she was on top of all the blankets. I waited there until I was sure she wouldn't rouse. I didn't want her to wake up confused."
"Couldn't she still?"
"It's extremely unlikely. I wouldn't have left her if I thought it were possible."
Darla stared up at him, not oblivious to his striking features. She was a woman, after all. Instead of attraction, though, what came to mind was admiration. Ultimately, she felt happiness for him. Happiness that he had someone he cared so deeply about. The way he spoke about her was so genuine that she was touched. Any points or counterpoints she'd made for or against lying faded away like dissolving tablets, fizzing into formless ideas that disappeared into her cerebellum. She decided to do whatever Thor thought was best.
