Chapter Fifty-Eight: No Clear Moment

Darla's alarm went off at six. The sound was devastating to her ill-rested mind and she bolted up to quiet it. She fussed with the buttons, which were simple enough to understand, but her early morning brain struggled to fathom their purpose. She unplugged the thing entirely, yanking the cord out of the wall the way everyone always says not to. She hoped to wake her house guest gently, assuming he was the type to sleep through most anything, but he was already awake and lingering in the bedroom doorway.

"Sorry," she apologized and only half of the word was audible from the dryness of her throat.

"I've been up," he replied huskily. She went about her routine to get ready for work and he waited patiently in the kitchen. A fleeting panic struck him-he'd left Jane home alone. How could he have been so foolish? The feeling fell to the wayside rather gently as he thought on his brother's words and believed them. At least for a little while, he would be in hiding. He had no fear that Jane would not be safe.

Darla was finished quickly enough, reporting to his side with some awkwardness. What came with the newness of their friendship, if it could be called that, was that she wasn't sure how to speak to him. In exhaustion, it had been simpler. Their conversation had been about semi-urgent matters at the forefront of their thoughts. It was clear now that the only thing that bonded them was the secret they would be keeping together. She doubted they would find a reason to interact after he dropped her off this morning.

In a way, she was saddened by this. She thought about all of the sparkly, tough celebrity crime-fighters she'd met the day before and her face got hot. Everything happened so fast that she wasn't able to take the time to appreciate being with them. She didn't properly thank them for how they stood up for her and protected her, even when she was making foolish decisions and crossing lines. Even when she was acting mousy and feeble.

"Are you still okay with all of this?"

"I don't really have a choice," she frowned, her mind elsewhere.

"You do have a choice," he insisted, though his tone lacked the kindness it had the night before. "I don't want to enter into this with you doubting, it will all unravel before long. If you don't want to-"

"No, I'm fine, I can do it. It'll be fine. I swear."

"As long as you're certain."

"I am," she confirmed. Then, echoing some sadness, she added, "I'm also ready to go."

"Excellent." Once out on the street, he bounded off the ground with her cradled in his strong free arm. She thought it may be easier to deal with the disorientation during the day, but nothing could have been further from the truth. She shut her eyes and became sorely aware of how empty her stomach was. She thought it was in one way a blessing-if she did get sick, nothing would come out.

He dropped her off a block away from the facility. "You won't have any trouble getting in, will you?"

"No, I have my badge and all that, I think I'll go in through the parking ramp entrance, since my car was here all night."

"That's a good idea," he acknowledged, but seemed to be far off in his head. "Well, enjoy your work day, I hope all goes well. It will undoubtedly be less stressful than yesterday, I can assure you that much."

Darla struggled with how to say goodbye. She wished she had her phone so she could take a picture with him. It would have been foolish anyway to record them being together at this time. "Thanks for all your help," she decided on at last. She didn't want to report to work, she didn't want to talk to Fury. She wished she didn't have secrets to keep, but this was something she should have vocalized when he asked her point blank.

"You as well," he took off again, leaving her to her anxiety.

Jane was fast asleep when he got to her apartment. She hadn't moved an inch from the way he'd laid her down. It was spooky and he found himself checking to make sure she was breathing. Her chest did rise and fall with the subtlest intake of breath and he was weary of touching her. Suavis had a tendency to evoke the same reaction upon waking as disturbing a sleepwalker. Since the spell made the subject feel disconnected from reality, coming back took some getting used to. At the same time, he knew that if he let her, she may sleep through the upcoming night as well.

He moved about and went through his morning routine as Darla had, taking care to be quiet. What would happen when she woke up was going to require all of his adaptability. While some things were certain, there was always the chance that she retained memories or could tell the difference between her dreams and reality. She was so bright, after all. Still, he doubted that Loki would have made such distinction easy for her. When all his grooming was done, he rested his hulking figure next to her on the bed as gently as he was able, and sure enough she began to stir. For her to be in her own apartment, the most familiar place she could be, the place her mind would expect to be upon waking, was the best thing he could have done for her. When her eyes opened, there was no shock. In fact, it all seemed quite normal to her. She kissed him good morning and unbuttoned her shirt, preparing to shower.

Each new button she got to was undone slower than the last. She wondered why she'd slept in her clothes, but was able to take the shirt off before it hit her completely. Thor sat back, silent, and hoped it would come to her before she was soaking wet. She made it to the bathroom and tossed her clothes into the hamper. He listened to her brush her teeth in her underwear, not at all distracted by the idea of her scantily clad. His focus was sharp. He'd said the things he'd planned to say to her over and over in his head all night.

The sound of the toothbrush hitting the sink was equivalent to a starting bell. She spit the foam out of her mouth and rinsed sloppily. Her body collided with the door frame and she stared at Thor wildly, no words coming to her quite yet.

"Why don't you sit down?" He suggested in his kindest, gentlest tone. She plopped down on the bathroom floor even though he'd gestured to the bed. She looked into the carpet until he joined her on the floor, sitting outside the doorway she was using for support. He said nothing. Neither of them did for a while.

"Why was I sleeping in my clothes?" She asked finally.

"You don't remember?" He was cautious, something that did not come easy to him. She shook her head hopelessly. "What do you remember?"

She squeezed her eyes shut as though this would aid her concentration. The memories in her head we're jumbled and runny. Trying to find anything that felt real was close to impossible, like sifting through oatmeal. "All I've got in my head is nonsense."

"Be patient, it will get clearer with time," he tried to comfort her. She did not accept this. Her ability to understand the things around her was what she'd built her career on, it was what she was best at. To be unable to make sense of what was in her own head was demoralizing.

"Was I drinking?" She wondered.

"No."

She glared at him when he said no more than that. "Thor, what happened? You obviously know more than I do, you're not telling me anything!"

"It wouldn't help you if I-"

"Oh, what do you know?" She lashed out, crossing her arms in a huff.

"About this? More than you think."

"I don't like to be left in the dark," she prodded, heading toward genuine anger.

"Let's lay back down, or maybe we can sit in the living room-somewhere more comfortable."

"I don't want to be comfortable."

"Fine," he planned to tell her later how cute she was when she was pouting. "Once your head is clearer and you can figure out the last thing you remember, we can go from there, okay? Trying to explain it to you now would only-"

"I don't like to wait."

"At least you don't have to do it alone."

Elsewhere

8:48. Exactly three minutes later than the last time Fury looked at the clock on his computer monitor. He was determined to let his team sleep in, and it was getting harder every second. He was secretly hoping for some emergency to arise so he could have an excuse to wake them. This was no random act of kindness-such things weren't his style. It wasn't a feeble attempt to win back their good graces, either. If he let them sleep as long as they needed to, as long as they were able to, he thought maybe they'd be less argumentative.

Lashing out was the sort of thing he'd grown to expect from Barton. That was just the type of person he always had been and always would be. It would be far stranger if he didn't act this way. He'd learned to expect quirky quips from Tony and always took them with a grain of salt, discounting his outbursts as cries for attention and validation. Lately, though, he'd started to notice mutinous behavior from Bruce and Steve as well. Bruce, when he was his good old scientist self, was quiet and reserved. Steve had an old-fashioned American respect for authority hardwired into his very cells. The fact that now they were up for questioning his motives along with the more outspoken members of the group made him very nervous indeed.

He'd been sifting through breaking news reports, even though Glen was under strict orders to alert him of anything that seemed to fit Loki's mode of operation. As he moved the mouse to click on one about a library break in, Darcy appeared at the door.

"I'm surprised you didn't call for me at the break of dawn," she was smiling, but terrified.

"Have a seat," he said.

She did so and folded her hands in her lap, locking them together in an attempt to avoid fidgeting. She'd been up since five, painfully aware that she'd have to have this conversation today. The conversation that would disappoint her boss immensely.

"I don't need to ask, do I? We both know why you're here," he prompted, touching his fingertips together.

"That's the thing," she averted her gaze. As nervous as she'd been the past couple of hours, her mind approached an eerie calm. Lying, in itself, was not a huge deal to her in the first place. She was a good guy in truth but was morally ambiguous in a lot of respects. This instance in particular was a no brainer. Tell the truth and be invisible forever? No thank you. "I don't remember anything."

Fury wasn't the type to lose his patience-but that was only because he never had any patience to begin with. "Nothing?" He scowled. "Not a damn thing?"

"No, sir."

"What's the last thing you do remember?"

"Helping Natasha upstairs and-"

"Before all that. While you'd vanished."

"There's no clear moment, sir. I don't have any memories of Loki, everything is blurry. Maybe I was under mind control like Barton."

"Barton was able to recall every single thing he did while under that spell, Darcy," he spat.

"Maybe he's just stronger than me, then, okay? I wish I could help, but I can't. I came to and my room was trashed and the dog was gone."

He didn't believe her. He was right not to, but his reasoning was more selfish than practical. Just as he was thinking his quest for answers was a hopeless spiderweb full of loose ends that would never be tied, Thor barged into his office. Despite himself, Fury smiled. "Darcy, would you leave us?"

"Hey!" She felt a wave of guilt and sought to fight it away with answers. "Jane-?"

"She's okay, she's home."

"I'm going to go see her."

"She's resting, try to be calm."

"Try. Got it." She left.

Fury maneuvered around his desk to shut the door to his office and lock it. "I am just dying to hear all about what the fuck happened yesterday."

Thor took the seat Darcy had occupied and waited for the Director to sit as well. "Loki has been taken back to Asgard. He's locked away in our most secure dungeon under constant supervision." Fury didn't react. "I thought you'd be pleased," Thor added.

"How the hell did you manage that?"

"My father had his finest alchemists craft a stone that would weaken him. It was not easy to convince him to bring Jane back to me safely, he wouldn't tell me where he'd hidden her. Once she was with me, I removed the stone from its casing and he was powerless. I called upon my father to take us back home."

This was the very definition of too good to be true. "Why did my scientists spend their valuable time building a transporter for you if you can travel back and forth at will?"

"My father will spend weeks regaining the power he used to do this. He insisted he did not want your involvement anymore. In fact, he didn't want me to come back here at all. He wanted to let the Midgardians figure it out on their own. You're lucky I could persuade him. You would have been in the dark indefinitely."

"You need to bring Jane in so I can speak to her."

"I will not. She doesn't remember anything, anyway. I spent all morning talking to her. The spell my brother had her under blurs reality, makes it difficult to tell the difference between life and dreams. That alongside his shapeshifting has her mentally exhausted. Your threat, your enemy, is gone now. Take joy in that."

"What about Eve?"

"I left Jane and Eve at Eve's residence overnight. Jane was in no mental state to watch her, and I saw her as no threat. When I returned, she was gone."

For his life, Fury couldn't figure out why Thor would be lying about this. Loki kidnapped the woman he loved and he'd gone on a warpath looking for her, physically exhausting himself and mutilating an entire floor of the facility. He rushed in through a disorientation aura and threw Mjolnir through a residence. He couldn't think of a way Loki would have won his favor back, not even with some family sticks together bull shit. "How do I know you're not under mind control?"

"I hate my brother."

"Okay?"

"If I was being controlled, he would never allow me to disrespect him. He's a sneaky, childish brat. Satisfied?"

Of all the words Fury would use to describe himself, satisfied would never be one of them. Even if the things Thor was saying were one hundred percent factual, it would still take some time for Fury to accept that the problem he'd spent a good chunk of his time trying to eliminate had vanished into thin air. Let alone the fact that it was done through no effort of his own. Let alone even further that his involvement was discouraged. He felt undermined and a little bit useless-both emotions that he had no experience dealing with.

He had more questions than he could account for, more inquiries than he could sort. "You need to walk me through what happened. Point by point."

Thor found himself feeling powerful, assertive and bold. He stood proudly, muscles bulging through his clothes, a casual reminder to Fury that he could smack him through the wall if he felt like it. "Why? What comfort would it bring you to hear of how I did what you could not?"

"Are you aware that while Loki was here trying to bring Jane to you-that's right, she was here and you didn't find her-that he beat Natasha within an inch of her life? Was that part of your master plan?"

"Actually, my plan was to use those below me as bait in a never-ending game of cat-and-mouse." Fury grimaced. "Loki is gone. Your city and your realm are safe, at least from him. Picking fights with me will not move this victory over to your side-I'm keeping it for myself." With this, Thor took his leave, knowing that if Loki resurfaced with vengeance on his mind-it would be his head on the chopping block first.

Fury sat back to let the conversation digest. The great news was reason enough to wake his team, at the very least. Still, he didn't stand to do so. He'd been read the ending to a story without being allowed knowledge of the climax. He was unable to be happy and the longer he sat, the less he believed.

Before delivering the news to anyone, he opted to sift through it in his own mind and gather points against the truth of it. He knew that, especially after the events of the day before, even his most discerning agents would be quick to believe it. He needed an ally first of all and sought out the easiest target he could.

On the way to the main surveillance room, something occurred to him. Glen was talking Darla's ear off but stopped mid-sentence when he saw his boss. "Agent Stevens, how did Thor get in the building?"

"I hate to sound like I'm being disrespectful here, sir, I'm not, but he came in through the door."

"And you didn't alert me because-?"

"I wasn't aware you were looking for him." At this point, Darla was wishing she was far away from the conversation.

Fury realized with a pang of annoyance that he actually hadn't communicated this with Glen. "Fine," he sidestepped and turned his attention to the reason he came, "I'm going to be borrowing Darla again today."

"I need her-"

"You may pull as many additional agents as it takes to pick up her slack, Agent Stevens."

Glen sat back at his post, avoiding eye contact with either of them, and said, "Yes, sir."

"Come along," he beckoned the small girl with a tilt of his head. She joined him in the hallway uneasily.

"I lost my phone," she blurted, struggling with an organic way to bring it up and not wanting to keep it locked up inside herself any longer.

"Oh?"

"I'm sorry," they walked toward the elevator.

"That's fine," he all but smiled at her, "I'll get you a new one by the end of the day. Do you have your employee number on hand?"

"I have it in my orientation packet, it's in my car."

"Right, well go get that and meet me-"

"In your office?"

"No," he corrected, "I thought we could have a late breakfast, meet me in the dining room."

"Yeah, oh-okay." They rode the elevator together. He exited on the third floor and she continued down to the basement. She didn't allow herself to feel let off the hook, in fact it was unnerving how agreeable her boss has been. After grabbing the flimsy folder her orientation packet was held in, she rested it on the trunk of her car to give herself a minute to think. Whatever affirmations she had in store for herself were interrupted and abandoned at the sight of a sizable dent in the car's spoiler.

A/N:

Okay! Hopefully I've tied this off with some pretty strong knots. I have a favor to ask. If, at this point, you have any unanswered questions or concerns about the state of things-please let me know! Review or message me so I can update this chapter and address it. The reason I'm asking is that (for a little while, at least) this story is going to get into some fluffy, fun territory. I don't want any questions hanging over the lighter tone of things, if that makes sense. Everything so far has been really tense, not that there's anything wrong with that, but I think you guys have earned some good old-fashioned indulgent fun fic stuff. I think I've earned it, too. Now that Loki and Eve will be a safe distance from SHIELD, I want to really explore their relationship in a less stressed environment. The same goes for the characters I've paired over at SHIELD HQ. And then there's Darla, who I've grown to love so much even though I never planned for her role to be so prominent. One thing I will say is that if you're wondering about Sam, don't worry, that will be addressed. Oh, and if you have suggestions or things you'd like to see as well, feel free to tell me!