Chapter Fifty-Nine: Wink

Loki and Eve were on a train headed from Zurich to Barcelona. Their first journey had been from Frankfurt to Zurich, and they'd slept most of the way. The train had been chugging along for a while and the sun was setting. Traveling and crossing time zones had eaten up most of their day, and Eve wondered if she would ever get those lost hours back, or if she would stay here forever. Loki had conjured a book for himself, and Eve thought to ask him for one but didn't know what sort of thing she was in the mood to read. After thinking on it and watching the sun disappear, she thought she didn't want to read at all. She took the book from his hands and shut it.

"I was in the middle of a sentence. In the middle of a word, actually, a very long word. Can I-" he stretched out to take the novel back, but she moved it out of his reach.

"It's too dark to read, now," she said, hoping he wouldn't notice the small complimentary light he could turn on above their seats.

Loki observed the landscape. "Okay," he agreed, an even serenity crossing his face, "I'll put it away." He took the book back and opened it right to the page he'd been on, making Eve think he had terrific night vision like a cat. Then the pages began to glow. Low and amber-colored, so as not to disturb any other passengers trying to sleep, but it made the words on the page perfectly visible.

The whirring of air rushing by them, disturbed by the great metal thing barrelling through, filled Eve's ears to capacity. The sound, which she had stopped noticing before this moment, was now a source of annoyance for her. "What's that book about?" She tried to sound innocent and curious, masking how desperately bored she was.

"It's fiction."

"Great-what is it about?"

"It would take too long for me to explain." His eyes never left the pages.

"Oh, if only we were trapped in some large transportation mechanism with nothing but time on our hands."

He sighed but continued to read. "Would you like a book?"

"Yes," she was a bit hesitant.

"You don't sound sure. What would you like to read?"

"Well-what are you reading?"

"You want to read what I'm reading?"

"Yeah..." She looked at him, then her eyes wandered. "What's it about?"

The book disappeared. "Right. You have my undivided attention."

Though this was her goal, she was taken aback to have won so quickly. "Oh, uh…"

"You wanted my attention but you don't have anything to say?"

Eve was comfortable. They had done a lot of traveling, which tended to be monotonous and time consuming. While she'd slept quite a bit, and managed to dream, her body was still drained. She could feel herself getting stronger with every step away from the mess she'd left in New York. The fact that she was experiencing boredom, it occurred to her now, was nothing short of a blessing. Since Loki came into her life, she'd been dragged from place to place, held captive and driven to emotional breaking points over and over. Now she felt free. Free to snatch the book out of his hands or pester him into abandoning it. Free to not be having fun, free from worry and stress and organization. She was even free of baggage, literally. The only things to her name were the clothes on her back and the dog in her lap and the man at her side, who she never for one second considered her property. So that she wanted his attention, and got it, despite having nothing at all to say, seemed the simplest joy she could hope for. It brought into her brain a rejuvenated tune and a hopeful, hesitant happiness.

"That's right."

He smiled, recalling how she'd been the day they picked up Sasha. That was the first time he'd seen her be honestly uninhibited, and her attitude now was similar. He hoped that with time away from the things that bound her, she would bloom like a flower. Not even in the deepest parts of his brain could he recognize that he himself was one of those binding things. He kissed her tenderly and she let her head fall on his shoulder. It was dull and hushed and dim in the train car, and they sat in the midst of it, happy to be bored and happy to be together.

Elsewhere

By noon, SHIELD Headquarters was impossibly quiet. Fury had caved and shared the story with a few high-ranking agents, Glen included, and hoped the news would trickle down. He avoided telling any of the Avengers directly. Their priority at this time was to find Eve and bring her in. With Loki captured-and Fury always put the word allegedly beforehand to make his feelings clear-there wasn't much to do. A lot of agents were being trained in surveillance, since that would be top priority in the aftermath of all this. Darla, who was hired as a surveillance agent, was oddly enough not included. Her breakfast with Fury had gone very well, though it was hard to say exactly what that meant. He praised her bravery during the events at Eve's house and her responses were full of gratitude but quite vague. She knew how that story started, with her foolishly traipsing into a battleground between two demigods, but she didn't know how it ended. Fury gave her little insight as well. It wasn't the type of thing she could come out and ask about, since she should know more about it than anyone.

Fury sat with her for a long time, long after they'd finished eating. He was trying to keep himself distracted until Thor came back and he could call a meeting with the rest of his A-team. Hours rolled by and he didn't show up. Any agents that asked him questions, provided they had the correct level of security clearance, were answered swiftly and concisely. He was waiting for something to happen. Something big. The lack of urgency injected into this day was making him feel lethargic and a bit pointless. Loki was the definition of the bigger fish he was frying. Then he was done cooking and Fury didn't even get to take a bite. It felt like he'd held in a sneeze and day-to-day SHIELD activities seemed almost below him.

They made it back to his office and she said, "I'll get back to my station."

"That's alright," he motioned for her to sit.

"Glen will be expecting me."

"Agent Stevens will be fine."

She sat across from him.

"Why haven't you asked me anything about what happened? Aren't you curious?"

Darla hadn't thought to pretend to be curious. The truth was that she knew more than any of the actual Avengers, except perhaps Thor. "I thought that I shouldn't ask."

"You saw at least a dozen agents come talk to me while we were eating."

"I guess so, but I'm so new here that I thought you wouldn't like to share anything with me. Rather, I thought you would share anything you wanted to share and I didn't want to pry. I mean, of course I'd be happy, if you would, uh, share, w-what happened…"

"Darla," he saved her from her own rambling and she felt a smack of pride. He never used the first names of his agents. "I want you to be comfortable with me. I get that maybe you're intimidated, hell that wouldn't surprise me at all. I think you're gonna be able to do some really great things with us, and I plan on giving you all the room in the world to grow. I'm not gonna cram you in that surveillance room, sitting at a desk all day watching monitors. We're gonna find something that you're really good at. Don't be afraid to go with your gut-like you did investigating Eve's place. Now I think I've waited long enough to call this meeting, don't you?"

"Yes, sir," she had been thinking that exact thing for a couple hours now. She hadn't said anything because she wanted the meeting to take place without her anywhere near it. Now it seemed she would get sucked in.

"Great, well, go wait in the conference room for us, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed and left, stopping herself steps away from his door.

He leaned out past the doorframe. "You don't know where the conference room is, do you?"

"Well, no," she didn't turn around.

"That's what I mean. Ask questions."

In Barton's room, Natasha's cell phone buzzed and Barton grabbed it, silencing it and checking his own.

"What is it?" Natasha was tired and weak.

"Meeting," he answered, then adding, "You're not going."

"That was my phone going off, wasn't it? I think I'm invited."

"You're not going, you need more rest."

She sat up, wincing at the aches across her body sparking to life. "I'll say if I need more rest. I've slept long enough."

He took a firm hand and pushed her torso down so her head was cradled by pillows again. "You are not going. I'll fill you in when I get back."

"This is unnecessary," she fought against his arm to no avail.

"Stop that. You're staying here, even if I have to tie you down."

"Alright, but hold that thought for another time, okay?" She winked at him and settled back into their bed.

The conference room was full within minutes, since everyone invited had been patiently waiting for the call. Fury noted Natasha's absence but didn't bring it up. He could see Barton was prepared to argue about it, he could feel the tension from across the room.

Darla expected them to be confused by her presence, and for one foolish moment, to ask her where she'd been. As far as they knew, she'd gone home the night before safe and sound. While it was true that she'd been very safe, with a hunky strongman laying in her bed, the circumstances of her return differed greatly from the version in their heads. No one was perplexed by her arrival with Fury. In fact it seemed they'd all expected her to be there-they'd saved her a seat next to the head of the table, by the director's chair. She didn't realize it was meant for her until Bruce, who was across from that spot, gestured for her to sit. The ergonomic office chair was next to Tony, and this was her first time seeing him in person without some metal attachment on his body.

He caught her looking and said, "I know, I'm way less shiny today than yesterday." She took her seat, blushing. "I'm a little surprised you came back."

"Oh," she muttered, glancing at him, unsure what else to say.

"But we're glad you did," Bruce added from across the way, shooting a glare directly at Tony.

"Right, I'm sure you're glad," Tony said.

Bruce rolled his eyes. Darla smiled uncomfortably, thinking Tony meant that he himself wasn't excited about her return.

"Alright, gang!" Fury put an end to their side conversations and commanded their full attention. His tone managed to suck the casual friendliness right out of the word gang.

"Should we wait for Thor?" Bruce asked.

"Or Darcy?" Steve added.

"I spoke to them both this morning. They're with Jane at the moment and don't wish to be disturbed."

"I don't think we can have this meeting without Thor. Especially not if the rumors we've heard are true," Tony said.

"You don't trust me to relay information, Stark?"

"Let's not waste time bickering," Steve said, "tell us what happened."

Fury made a millisecond's worth of eye contact with each person seated in the room, making sure he wouldn't be interrupted again. When he got to Tony's hard, suspicious gaze, he felt the need to address them like a group of kindergarteners. "Save your questions until the end." No one objected. "Before I begin, rest assured that any and all concerns you have about this story, I have the same ones. First, I'll say that Darcy claims she doesn't remember anything."

Steve fidgeted in his seat, wanting to jump to Darcy's defense. At his heart, though, he was not a rule breaker, and kept quiet.

"I'm chalking that up as a loose end for now. If Thor is telling the truth, it doesn't matter. According to him, Loki is locked up on Asgard. His father gave him a magic stone or some shit to weaken him, and once he was sure Jane was safe, he used it and brought Loki home. He left Eve behind with Jane and she ran, we don't know where she is currently. That's our focus for the time being." Everyone hesitated, their lips full to the brim with questions, unsure if he was finished. "Okay, try to keep this organized."

"Why wouldn't he tell us he was planning this?" Steve asked.

"Maybe he thought it would be safer not to. Loki can read minds, after all," Bruce said.

"He did go off on his own at first when we found out he was at Eve's. Then there was that whole thing where he proclaimed it a family matter and asked us not to go inside. Maybe he didn't want to involve us if he didn't have to."

"We were involved, though," Barton chimed in, "that psycho came here to get Jane and Nat nearly died."

"None of us knew Jane was here," Tony said, still deliberating which side to be on. Disagreeing with his teammates was always great fun, but he really wanted all this Loki nonsense to be over with. He wanted to believe it. They all did.

"I guess not. Plus, if we hadn't caught Loki disguised as Darcy, he would have returned Jane and Thor would have captured him with no trouble…"

"These are all valid points," Fury said.

"I don't know if I've ever heard you say something like that before," Tony said. "Are we sure you're not Loki in disguise?"

Bruce sighed. "That's the scariest thought about all this. How do we know that none of us are Loki playing a trick? How do we know Tony isn't really tied up somewhere?"

"Wouldn't be the first time," Tony winked.

"Ugh, why did you wink at me?" Bruce put an exasperated hand on his forehead. "Anyway, my point is how can we even test for this kind of thing?"

Darla's anxiety was through the roof. This wasn't going well. She hung her head. "Minnie? Do you have something to say?"

"What? Oh, uh…"

"Well?" Tony prodded.

"It's just that, well, do you not trust that Thor is telling the truth? Does he have any reason to lie to you?"

"I suppose not," Bruce shrugged.

"We have to know for sure," Barton tapped his pointer finger definitively on the table. "We can't believe this and let our guards down. It also wouldn't be ideal to live in fear forever, always checking over our shoulders, never trusting our teammates are who they say they are. Why didn't Thor stay and talk to us?"

Fury opened his mouth to speak, but Darla suddenly found the words she wanted to say. "It was his brother," she said. "Think about how hard it must have been for him. To lock up a family member like that, when I'm sure he would have much rather talked things over. Loki was beyond talking to. I know it might be easy to see him as just his cape, just like some people might see you-" she looked at Bruce "-for the green guy, or you-" she impulsively put her hand on Tony's shoulder "-for your armor. But just like all of you, he's still got feelings. He still loves his family, and he must still have love for Loki. All I'm saying is maybe it's not easy for him to talk about. He doesn't strike me as the feeling-sharing type. So maybe he didn't want to get up in front of everyone and divulge every gory detail. Especially not after the pain and trouble Loki caused you all."

"Well, shit," Barton said.

Fury thought on how Thor had said his father hadn't even wanted him to come back to earth and discuss what had happened. Things were lining up, even if he didn't want them to. "Like I said, we'll put our focus on finding Eve for now. That shouldn't be so difficult. In the meantime, we need to brainstorm a way to make sure what Thor told me is true."

"You're gonna hate this," Tony was grinning, he looked right at Darla and said in a slightly quieter tone, "he's gonna hate this."

"Great! Let's get the bad ideas out of the way first."

"Let's throw a party!"

Fury's face was etched in stone.

Barton managed to laugh. "This fucking guy. Unbelievable."

"Hear me out, though," Tony stood and walked to the head of the table. Fury moved to the side and gave him the for, though he looked none too pleased about it. "Say Thor is a big fat Asgardian liar? Say Loki is still roaming around waiting for the right moment to hit us where it hurts? We throw a victory party. A we sure got the bad guy party. If Loki is still around, he won't be able to resist crashing. And of course we'll be armed to the teeth and keeping a vigilant eye."

"Right. Invite hordes of innocent people over so they can get caught in the middle," Barton objected.

"That's what I'm saying! He couldn't possibly stay away! But we'll be ready. And if he doesn't crash? Then we know it's true."

"Well fuck me if that doesn't make a bit of sense," Fury furrowed his brow, considering.

"Nick, no one in this room is going to fuck you," Tony said. "We can plan it for this weekend and if we find Eve in the meantime, even better. We can always change our plans."

"I don't hate this idea," Bruce said. "At the very least, we all deserve to blow off some steam."

"Yes! We got one!" Tony looked expectantly at Steve.

"I don't know," Steve said. "It can be a placeholder plan. You know, until we think of something better."

"I doubt that'll happen. Next?"

"Do we have to attend?" Barton asked.

"It would be a little weird if you didn't, but I'm sure Natasha's got a wicked party dress that'll change your mind in that respect."

"Is it necessary to talk about her like that?"

"The fact that you two are exclusive or whatever doesn't make what I said any less true." He looked to Darla. "What about you, Minnie Mouse, what do you think?"

"I guess it could be sort of fun," she looked to Fury right away to see if he was upset. He wasn't. She had already learned the subtle differences between his angry face and his thinking face.

Tony winked at her this time. "I'll take that as a yes."

A/N:

Oh hey guys! I've missed you :3 I'm gonna dedicate this chapter to swornbyloki - ask and you shall receive! I've been kind of lazy about this lately, and I never want to just throw out some half-assed nonsense out of obligation. I'm super happy with this chapter, and it's motivated me and excited me about what's coming. You should be excited too-trust me :D