Chapter Forty-Seven: Superior

Loki meandered toward the front door. He was in no hurry as he got into character. Darla was possibly his exact opposite. He couldn't imagine a scenario where he would ever be as terrified as her. The closest he could get was to imagine himself literally walking on eggshells. It was a good thing he was a professional liar. Though to be like this girl, he sensed he'd have to spend a lot of time either stuttering or being quiet. How wonderful. The end would justify the means in this case. He opened the front door with ease and tried not to look too confident.

"Agent Cooper!" Steve greeted him with surprise.

Bruce returned to the group from his sidewalk cool down. "How did it go? Are you okay?"

Loki surveyed the four men. All but Fury anxiously awaited her answer. Even though Tony's face was covered, his posture made it evident. They obviously had not trusted or even wanted her to go inside, revealing Fury as the mastermind behind it all. "No one's in there," Loki lied meekly.

"Nowhere? Not even Thor?" Tony blurted.

Loki simply shook his head.

"Are you certain?" Fury asked. "Absolutely one hundred percent-"

"I checked everywhere. It's not a very big house," he started toward them.

"Wait!" Steve cautioned him. "The spell-remember?"

Oh yeah. "Do you think it's still up if he's not here? Wouldn't that waste energy or magic or whatever?"

Tony turned to Steve. "Whaddya say, soldier? Wanna check it out again?"

"Couldn't hurt," Fury encouraged him, "she's probably right. And if it is still up, I don't imagine it will be for much longer."

Bruce's gears were turning. "I've got a better idea," he announced. He grabbed Fury by his leather-clad elbow and started dragging him, inch by inch, to the yard line.

"What the hell do you think you're-"

Tony and Steve assisted right away, eventually shoving him onto the lawn. He was unaffected. "And there's our answer," Tony noted with a chuckle. Fury's eyes were hot and vindictive as he regained his composure. Steve didn't care in the slightest and walked past him into the house. Loki shroud the three people he'd left in the bedroom, and Steve as well, so he wouldn't see them and they wouldn't see him.

Suddenly, the door on the house across the street flew open and a six-year-old boy came running out. His limbs were flailing about with the enthusiastic was little boys run. "Mom, I told you! It's the real Iron Man, it's really him!" The boy's mother couldn't keep up with him but followed the best she could. "Matty, come back here!"

"It's okay," Tony reassured pleasantly and knelt down to greet the child, "you're right, it really is me."

"Shoot a rocket!" The boy demanded excitedly, almost drooling.

"Sorry, sport. Rockets only get fired when there's a bad guy. No bad guys here."

"A laser?" Matty begged.

Tony tousled his hair. "Okay, one laser…"

"What? You can't just…" Bruce was flabberghasted.

Tony shushed him and pointed at a nearby tree. From his finger came a red stream of light similar to a laser pointer. "Cool!" The kid exclaimed. By now, the mother had caught up. She took her son's hand and apologized.

"Don't worry about it," Tony laughed, applying heavy charm, "that's why I installed the mostly-useless-just-a-red-light laser. Kids always ask." He winked at her and her eyes shot to the ground as she fought the blush from her cheeks. She smiled and took Matty back inside.

"I have to assume Pepper isn't okay with you hitting on soccer moms," Bruce noted with a disapproving frown.

"What? I was just being friendly," Tony scoffed. "Besides, Pepper is never fucking around anyway." Bruce backed off, realizing he'd struck a nerve. "If there's nothing left to see here, maybe we should pack up and go before the news vans get here?" Just then, Steve returned from his sweep with nothing to report.

Fury tapped his earpiece. "Agent Stevens?"

"Yes, sir?" Came Glen's prompt reply.

"Any activity on that bug or otherwise I should be aware of?"

"No, sir. A lot of commotion a little bit ago, but nothing now." What Glen didn't realize was that the device had broken when Loki struck the wall. He'd stayed late so the team wouldn't be stuck with someone inexperienced during a crisis. That being said, he was still ticked off at the director. It was safe to say he wasn't giving his job a hundred percent today-not even close.

"Okay, we're gonna pack up here. Give the agent relieving you clear instructions and get some rest," Fury ordered.

"Will do, sir."

Loki moved to join them, then figured dear Darla would hesitate. Bruce came over and got him. "You're okay, then?" He asked. Loki nodded and gave him a shy smile. Was she really so danger-prone that he suspected she'd hurt herself in what he believed to be an empty house?

"Are we going now?" Loki wondered hopefully.

"Yes, we are," Bruce touched his hand briefly to what he thought was Darla's shoulder to move her forward.

Loki smiled and fabricated a rouge across his freckled cheeks. The monster was very protective of her. Bruce broke off to get in the passenger seat and Tony was at Loki's side within seconds. "Don't you ever do something stupid like that again," he warned. Loki nodded. Ah, the metal man was as well. He climbed in the back seat and crossed his legs. He loved crossing his legs when he was a woman. The car began rolling and he gazed out the window as though daydreaming. He was really hoping those in the front of the car would strike up some revealing conversation. No one said anything for a while.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Loki pried. With Darla's innocent voice, he could ask almost anything. The worst case was that they'd think she was dim-witted. He certainly didn't care about that.

"We?" Tony repeated without looking back. "You are going to go home."

"But what about-"

"See, this is the problem!" Tony declared, hitting the steering wheel with his left hand for emphasis. "You should never have been involved in the first place. Now you're thinking about it like it's your problem when it's not."

"Hey, go easy on her," Bruce interjected.

"I'm not saying it's her fault. I'm not saying she did anything wrong. Well, not technically. But I don't have to tell you how wrong that could have gone, do I?"

"Is this constructive?" Bruce retorted.

"She got lucky."

"Maybe don't talk about her like she's not here."

"Hey, Nick said it himself. She's a grown woman. Right?" He looked back now for approval. Loki nodded, enjoying himself. "Listen close," he uttered seriously, "don't listen to Fury."

"Director Fury is my superior," Loki recited plainly.

"Okay. Do what is in your job description and nothing more. Not a damn thing. That man has no depth perception-in every possible meaning of the phrase. And he doesn't' care about you. Don't let him trick you."

All the words Darla should have heard for herself floated through Loki's augmented ears. "I'm not sure I understand," he fiddled with his dainty fingers.

Bruce turned around in his seat. "Basically, you aren't obligated to do anything that makes you even slightly uncomfortable. Director Fury is your boss, yes, but sometimes he overlooks things trying to solve a problem. Don't overthink it. You're okay-and that's great-but there were other ways it could have played out."

Aiming to confuse Dr. Banner, Loki stretched out one of his pale, borrowed hands and rested it atop his as he uttered, "Thank you." At first, Bruce seemed mildly pleased. Then he quickly drew his hand away and faced forward without a word. If Loki wasn't going to get any information out of these two-just lectures and useless advice-he could at least mess with them a little bit.

"What do you think happened to Thor?" he tried to get the ball rolling again.

"I'm sure he's fine" Tony stated curtly, "no more questions. Relax."

For the remainder of the ride, the three of them sat in stony silence.

Elsewhere

Darla stared down at the glasses she'd broken and her eyes clung to the moisture that had not yet seeped into the carpet. She realized she was very thirsty. She knelt down to collect the larger shards in her palm. Eve knelt opposite her to help and as she picked up a jagged slice, she winced.

"Are you hurt?" Darla inquired. With one look at Eve's body, she saw the cuts and bruises peeking out beyond the sleeves of her shirt and the hem of her skirt. "Oh," she leaned in closer, holding her weight up on her free hand. "Ah!" She yelped and picked her hand back up, revealing a chunk of glass embedded in the skin.

Eve stood and maneuvered around the safety hazard. "I have a first aid kit in the bathroom," she went to get it. She was back in no time and dropped the plastic case on the ground beside the SHIELD agent. Darla plucked the bloody glass out of the thick skin of her palm and unlatched the kit. She cleaned and treated the flesh wound like an expert. For the first time all day, she moved with precision, accuracy and confidence. Eve looked on in awe.

Darla giggled. "Oh-do you want me to do yours now?" She offered as she applied a bandage. Eve started to shake her head. "No, don't be silly!" Darla walked over next to Eve on her knees, the kit closed and dangling from her fingers by the handle.

"Really, you don't have to-" Eve started.

"You should let her," Thor advised.

Eve conceded and relaxed. Darla set to work, swabbing her lacerations and examining her bruises. "All surface wounds," Darla was chipper with this news. She swiped away a trail of blood down the back of her arm. "I've seen worse," she added.

"Were you a nurse before SHIELD employed you?" Eve asked.

"Ah," Darla's movements slowed. Her eyes fell as she said, "No." It was clear she didn't want to get into it.

"Okay, well, thank you very much," Eve moved on.

"No trouble at all."

"Eve," Thor's deep voice had a mild urgency to it that cut through through the stagnant air.

"Yes?"

"Do you love my brother?"

Darla stopped working completely. She watched Eve's face, anxiously awaiting her response. Eve gave her a frigid look and she continued, hiking up Eve's skirt to do so. Eve thought on what Loki had said to her before he left. Thor had to believe in what they had. Rather, what they were pretending to have-a relationship near as devoted as Thor's with Jane. To assist in the illusion, she said, "Yes."

Thor exhaled forcefully, not amused. "Liar," he accused, "He's got you trained like a dog."

"Hey-!" Eve barked.

"No physical collar, but a collar at that. Or is it simply that you do not understand what love should be?"

Eve clung to her mistruth, digging her heels in like a stubborn teen. "What Loki and I have is-"

"I've had it!" Thor lunged toward her and she scrambled backward, causing Darla to lose her balance on the way. "Deception and secrets and mysteries-how can you live this way? You go with him, that's all your life will be. If he keeps you alive, that is."

Eve stood to face him. "Do I look like I'm enjoying myself?"

"You surely aren't rallying against this arrangement," Thor pointed out.

"This is what I want," Eve was telling the truth now. Thor looked on with doubt. Darla was trying her best to blend into the rug. "This is what I want!" Eve repeated with more volume, nostrils flaring.

"Maybe you can see how I don't understand that. If you believe this to be love-which is a preposterous delusion-would you not want an-"

Eve cut him off by commanding Darla to, "Go sit in the closet and plug your ears. This conversation is going to become very private." Darla, of course, obliged and thought fondly of when Tony had hoped for her sake that no one would ever ask her to do exactly that. "I want this," Eve spoke when she was close enough to whisper, "for my own reasons. My decision has almost nothing to do with Loki."

A/N:

Is it just me, or does this chapter have more italics than all the rest combined? Anyway. The last couple of reviews I've gotten have been so thoughtful and sweet, the exact type of feedback that keeps me motivated! Thanks to LostInBakerStreet and a guest review from Piepie for brightening my day. And RandomFandoms14 for going back and reviewing a TON of chapters. I love when people tell me what they like and want to see more of. If you ask, I'm going to be sure to incorporate it, or at least try my very hardest. And happy birthday to my favorite anyone, ShellySadistic. She helps me a lot with keeping the story consistent and she's an awesome friend-I'm so glad to have met her. Okay, I think that's enough rambling. Thanks to all my loyal readers and happy Friday!