Chapter Thirty-Six: Don't Look
Darcy was distraught. She fumed and tried to contain herself as she watched Loki sitting quietly in the corner, borrowing her shape. He wasn't doing anything. He was just sitting there, eyes focussed on nothing. She traced his line of sight to the headboard just to make sure and when she found he was indeed looking at nothing, she lost it. She liked spontaneity, loved not knowing what was going to happen next-but not now. Not when her friends were potentially in trouble. "If you're just gonna sit there, why do you need to be me?" He ignored her. His body was there but he wasn't. He was soaring through the halls with his eyes, searching for Thor's mate. He found her with ease on the floor above, peering curiously and efficiently into rooms in search of the Captain. He came back into the room and Darcy was staring at him, looking annoyed. He stood and dragged her by her hair to the bathroom. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," she protested in pain on the way. When he pushed her inside, she scowled. "You could have just asked me to-" he slammed the door and sealed it with a low-effort spell before taking his leave.
He jogged to the stairwell and headed up one floor. Jane was at the other end of the corridor, still hard at work trying to help her friend. "Hey!" He shouted when he gathered no one else was nearby. Jane turned back with her eyes curious at the sound of Darcy's voice.
"Darcy?" She called and started to walk toward her.
"Obviously," he mutter under his breath.
"What?" Jane yelled back, still very far away.
"I changed my mind!" He responded instead of his previous grumbling.
Jane kept walking but took her phone out of her sweater pocket. "Why didn't you call me?"
"I'm feeling spontaneous," he explained, "I got a burst of confidence and I want to do this myself." Finally they were at a normal speaking distance and raised voices were no longer required. He took in her features, sharp and soft all at once somehow, and found her not entirely disgusting. But her attitude and her intellect-while admirable in a way-annoyed him in this instance and he considered killing her altogether. He wondered how loud his brother would scream, how long he would mourn and if that would actually motivate him to murder his mischievous adopted brother. No sense doing away with her if it would ultimately make things harder for himself in the long run.
"That's great!" Jane enthused before checking the time on her cell. "I have to get back, then, let me know how everything goes!" She started to walk briskly away, but he stopped her with a request.
"Hug for good luck?" He begged with a sincere smile and those big doe eyes of Darcy's in their finest form. Jane doubled back without a thought and squeezed him tight.
"Good luhh-" she trailed off as Loki's gentle sleeping spell wove its way into her brain, making her feel as though she were tucked into bed with her big, strong Asgardian's weight beside her. She smiled contently as her eyes lulled shut. Loki checked quickly once more that no one else was nearby and made sure the surveillance cameras saw the hug end in the girls going their separate ways. Instead of that illusion playing out in reality, he dragged her to the nearest room and set her body down away from the door. He sealed it as he left and headed for Eve's room with his endgame in mind.
He sprinted down the hall once on the correct floor to try and sound winded, and though the girl's body should have awarded him that, the short run did nothing to him. He would have to pretend. He knocked on the door frantically and swiped the keycard so it would open. Before he could reach the handle, Thor swung it open and his face fell to some form of surprised disappointed when it wasn't Jane.
"Well don't look so happy to see me," Loki bullied while breathing heavily, one arm propping himself up against the door frame.
"Darcy? Have you been exercising?" Thor knew that seemed doubtful.
"Me? Never. This is important. Jane is in trouble."
Thor bounded into the hall, letting the door shut carelessly behind him. "She's what?" He leaned in closer as though to hear better. It was a little silly considering Darcy wasn't exactly quiet. Loki took the opportunity to extend his arm and tap the earpiece in his brother's ear. In an instant, he broke the device and absorbed the hulking man's confused expression.
"There was a bug," he explained quickly before getting back to the matter at hand. "She called me, said she was in danger, and the call was cut off. I tried calling back, but-"
"Where is she?" His tone was deep and concerned, calm but full to bursting.
"I don't know! She-" At this point, Loki provided Thor with a simple auditory hallucination. Jane's terrified scream-from the floor below. Without a word, Thor soared to the stairwell and down a level to assist her. Little did he know that his beloved was in a serene slumber on the floor above. Loki was honestly surprised that he didn't just get there by making a huge hole in the floor. Maybe he had changed in the way of temper, at least a little. Though he recalled seeing him punch a dent into a metal chamber while they had him in custody after the Chitauri incident. In any case, he could hear the man screaming for his lover and kicking down locked doors before even thirty seconds had passed.
Loki swiped the keycard again and walked in to see his favorite mortal woman alone. She looked up as he walked in and relief washed over her. He made sure the cameras could not see him as he walked over to her purposefully. She opened her mouth and he immediately shushed her. He crawled into bed with her, nudging her forward so he could put one long leg on either side of her and lay her back into him. Her eyes closed and her breath relaxed. Questions swirled around her brain as they had been all day, but she took a moment to put them on the back burner and just feel the rise and fall of his chest against her. He wrapped his arms around her snugly. "Do not move," he instructed, "not an inch."
Elsewhere
Fury was in his office essentially twiddling his thumbs when a frantic, thin redhead ran through the door without knocking.
"Agent Cooper?" He addressed her with a concerned annoyance. "You're not at your post, because�"
"She's not there. The girl we're watching. She's not there, she's gone, she left, she disappeared and-"
Fury stood and slammed his hands on the desk to silence her. "Stop repeating yourself and give me some new information! You were assigned to cameras?"
"Yes! Jane left the room, then a little while later that perky brunette whose name I always forget knocked on the door and Thor ran off. No one came to replace them, then the girl in the bed got comfortable and vanished into thin-"
'What do you mean she got comfortable?" Fury's forehead wrinkled as he gave her a look of disbelief. The detail seemed so trivial, but he needed to know every last thing. He had no idea what she was getting at.
"She just rested back into the bed, she wasn't trying to escape or anything, she just evaporated! It was like she-"
"Why didn't you call me over the radio?" He barked.
"You never gave me an earpiece, sir. No one did. I kind of thought I-"
"You're supposed to have one."
"Well no one told me that and no one ever gave me one, so I ran down here and-"
Fury held up his hand to quiet her. "Why didn't you ask Agent Stevens to-"
"Agent Stevens was in the bathroom, I didn't know how long he'd be gone so I-"
"Fine!" He bit, determined not to let her finish a thought entirely, before brushing past her. He held two fingers to his ear. "Can you motherfuckers hear me?" He asked, not expecting anyone to answer.
"Something bothering you, there, boss?" Tony answered.
"Shut up," Fury snapped, "and the rest of you?" Bruce, Natasha, Barton and Steve all sounded off. No Thor. "Okay. Head to Eve's room. Look for Thor and Jane along the way but that is not a priority at this moment."
"What's going on?" Natasha asked.
"Don't know. Meet me down there in less than one minute. This is a DEAR moment. Drop everything and report." Fury began running with his jacket catching air behind him. After a few strides he discarded it and Agent Cooper, whose first name was Darla, picked it up and followed him at a brisk pace.
The group beat him to the room and waited for him before entering. He saw them from the end of the hall and skipped his signature eye roll to scream, "Go the fuck inside!"
"What a crabby, crabby man you are," Tony shook his head disapprovingly, "and such language." He followed his teammates in when the door was opened and understood immediately what the problem was.
Fury pushed through them and stared at the bed. Darla, unsure if she was supposed to be there or not, clutched his heavy coat to her chest and took a couple of cautious steps inside. She was met with glances from very famous crimefighters who had no idea who she was. Their attention soon turned back to the room that was supposed to have three people in it as Fury kicked the bed and exclaimed, "Son of a bitch."
A/N:
At my middle school we did this thing in the morning called DEAR, Drop Everything and Read. Did anybody else do that? If not, that joke is all for me XD
Darla is affectionately named after Dale Cooper. I wanted another Agent of my own invention around since Sam is currently hospitalized and all that.
I did edit and proofread this, but not super closely as I am distracted. But I wanted to give you guys something since you are so lovely and patient. I'll read it again tomorrow and fix any awkward sentences or typos, let me know of any you see! As always, thank you, you're the best, hope this update is to your satisfaction!
