Chapter Forty-Two: Rush
Darla was clinging to her preconceived notion that she was not allowed to eavesdrop. Regardless of what Tony had told her-and some of it was very sound advice-she had to fight to keep her hands in her lap. When she heard shouting, her knuckles twitched, eager to compulsively plug up her ears again. The words were admittedly muffled and she was able to soothe the do-gooder beast inside her with a few elongated breaths. But she wouldn't look. No, she wouldn't dare. They told her to stay in the car, they didn't want her to see what was going on. She didn't want to see it either. But what if…
She shook her head almost violently, causing copper strands of straight-as-an-arrow hair to fall loose from her ponytail. She ripped her hair tie out, distressed. She wound the thing between her fingers, fidgeting and doing breathing exercises as the shouting got louder. She heard Steve clearly yell "Thor!" and then once more. She felt a pang of curiosity and scolded herself. But what if…
When she shook her head this time, her newly freed hair bounced about her cheeks. "I'm not even supposed to be here," she spoke to herself quietly. "Who knows why they brought me? The director said it would be a good experience, but I feel like I'm not learning anything. Come on, Darla, sit here quietly until they come get you. But what if…" She found cause for more head shaking. Her dangling earrings chattered against her neck.
Nothing could be heard by her now. She tilted her head so her left ear was closer. Suddenly, Steve shouted for the god again and she jumped in her seat. Again he called, then silence. Silence made her very uncomfortable in this instance. Usually it had a calming effect on her-she could only sleep in complete silence, and wore ear plugs to sleep, after all. But it seemed to potentially hold a very different meaning here. She slid her tongue across her teeth briefly, one of her many nervous habits. She tried to concentrate. "Now, Darla," she cautioned herself-warning her own mind of the dangers wandering could cause. One last deep breath for good measure. "But what if something's happened? What if they're all hurt? I should call someone if that's the case." Her eyes darted impulsively to the window but without committing and actually turning her head, she couldn't see a thing. She peeked quickly. Thor was still on the ground and Steve was in the grass on his knees.
Without thinking, Darla threw forward the driver's seat and slid over to open the door. As she exited the vehicle, without shutting the door on the way, no one seemed to notice her. They were concentrating on the Captain. She was unsure exactly what he was doing. She took steps without even realizing it, her hunger for information drowning her. Her eyebrows arched in stoic inquisitiveness and her body moved now without her awareness. She drew closer and closer to the team and soon watched Steve's body crumple into lifelessness. When a solemn second passed by with no movement from his form, a blood curdling scream erupted from her core. Her terror partly resulted from realizing what she'd done. Ultimately she feared she had just watched someone die. When her shriek didn't stir the man on the lawn, she looked to his teammates and found them staring at her.
"Huh," Tony noted completely casually, "you seemed so quiet at first. You really took that from 0 to 10, didn'tcha?"
Darla pointed helplessly at the the star spangled man. Her cheeks felt hot and stung. She touched her fingertips beneath her eyes, checking for tears. She found none, only the vague presence of sweat.
Bruce winced, somehow in support of her. "We're not thinking he's dead," he started to console her, then turned to Tony, "right?"
Tony crept toward the lawn, careful not to come too close to the line where he'd watched Steve collapse. He enhanced the sight with his helmet and watched the man's well-toned limbs shivering as though trapped in a blizzard. "He's alive," Tony confirmed. He sounded relieved, much to Bruce's surprise. He spun around to face Darla. "You were supposed to stay in the car." Darla paused and put a pensive look on her face. "Well?" Tony, unable to show his glare through his mask, conveyed it with his voice.
"I'm thinking of the best way to phrase my response," she recited as though being fed the line through a prompter.
Bruce chortled. "Let her have this one," he instructed with a pleased smile.
"Fine," Tony conceded. "What do we do?"
Fury and Bruce each pursed their lips. Darla looked from one to the next, then the next and back through again.
"Surely we can't just do nothing," Tony contributed. All eyes were on him after this statement. "I'm just saying," he added, "I don't have any ideas. It's kind of hard to figure out the solution to a problem when all of the variables are magic." He took a dramatic step away from his fallen comrades. "If only that crazy alien hadn't tried to run in here all on his own. Is it just me or does it seem like he's no wiser to Loki's tricks than we are?"
All four people gasped audibly, even Fury couldn't hide his shock, as a series of deafening crunches sounded from the house. Upon further investigation, each of their mouths fell open in turn. Steve had not moved. Thor, on the other hand, was standing up with his back to them. His cape flowed in slow motion and his legs shook visibly, though he appeared to have good balance. His right arm was extended straight out in front of him, his thick fingers spread out and twitching. His hammer was nowhere to be seen.
Elsewhere
Eve and Loki were lying against one another, her back to his front, just breathing and smiling. Their union had ended in mutual satisfaction. She was glad he hadn't fallen for her trick and she fully realized it had been foolish to assume he would. Now their naked bodies rested in perfect closeness. She let herself soak up the serenity for a few blissful moments before drawing herself away and gathering her clothes.
Loki released an annoyed grunt and reached out for her, dragging his fingertips along her skin as she slipped away. "There will be plenty of time for these things when we get where we're going," she stated honestly with a sweet smile.
"That reminds me," he propped himself up on his elbow, "have you decided where we'll be going? If we get there and you hate it, we can always relocate."
She licked her lips and she tugged her jeans up onto her hips. "Hmm," she pondered and snatched her purple bra off the floor. She tried to think about it like a fantasy-If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? She imagined being handed a microphone and having to present her answer to a panel of judges. She smirked. Then it occurred to her that the opinion of imaginary judges should play no part in her decision. She kept coming back to one annoying thought. What if their passion fizzled and died in no time at all? What if that was all it was? And on the other end of that spectrum, what if they got through the ever-dreaded conversation and she didn't like what he had to say? Should she pick somewhere close-by so she could come home without any issues? Then again, she couldn't really ever come home, could she? She stole a look at him. He was observing her and made no effort to hide it when their eyes lined up. He was like a statue. A painting. The ideal picture of a handsome man. For a moment she doubted his existence, and her own sanity by default.
He watched her focus and think. Her face had an aura of happiness blended in through her skin like a lotion. It wasn't just an after-sex glow, either. There was hope entwined in with it, and her eyes often looked up at nothing in particular. With this she'd pair a small smile and when he crept into her mind to research, he found thoughts of their future frolicking about. Not all of them were happy. In fact, most of them were doubtful. Concerned. For a split second he was offended, but he could easily see how she felt that way. Still he couldn't help but think that she ought to be honored he wanted her. He didn't stay in her mind long, as it sent his thoughts racing and caused a rush of panic to flood down his back in an unsettling tingle. Could he really live up to what she expected? He sighed too lightly for her to hear and clothed himself with his magic out of laziness. Good sex made him feel like lounging. No matter what changed in his life, that would always be true. When they were away from all this, alone at last, he would show her what it was like to live in decadence.
On this occasion, however, he was allowed no time to lounge. He heard a familiar whirring sound and he wasted precious milliseconds identifying it. The heavy, hollow hum was accompanied by rapid crashes and the rattling of debris. He sprang out of the bed and landed on his feet with the grace of a seasoned dancer. Loki cast his first spell without needing to think. Eve wasn't close enough to him to teleport away with her, and he dared not pull her into the line of fire. Before she could finish clipping her bra, he shot the spell hastily toward her and forced her to tumble into the corner. She was given no warning and no time to react, so she fell roughly to the ground. The spontaneity of his casting made her right shoulder smack against the floor. The wind was knocked out of her when she slid and her back connected with the wall. She let out an involuntary oof. The carpet burned the skin on her arm and side and the when the pain prickled upon her halt, she hastily rubbed the area with her left hand.
She blinked several times and a collection of tears raced out of her eyes. She wiped them away and breathed heavily, already trying to right herself. Her muscles were sore and unwilling to cooperate. She gave up and lay facing Loki. As she attempted to steady her breathing, she wanted to shout. She wanted to know what was going on. She could only watch as he threw his arms out in front of him, facing her closed bedroom door. His hands moved away from each other as he projected a force field in front of himself. It glowed with a crystal blue and shimmered. It was the brightest light she'd ever seen and she was mesmerized by it. So much so that she didn't immediately notice the great weapon come barreling through the wall. She winced as she witnessed the convex shield as high as the room itself shatter and vanish when the hammer flew through it. When Mjolnir broke the barrier, Loki bent forward as though struck. Then Mjolnir struck him for real.
