A/N: So the changes aren't that different, just over all better. Once again, thanks to Ally! Round of applause for uber awesome betas!

His body ached but from what he could tell the damage was minimal, the only problem seemed to be that he had little idea where he was. He decided that the best thing he could do was hitch a ride. Since the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D had done everything to keep his face out of the news and the only place he'd appeared publically was Europe, he figured he could probably morph into different attire and hitch a ride with a mortal. Considering he was in an area similar to where Thor had been exiled, he considered his garments he'd adorned last trip to Earth wouldn't be the best choice; as they'd been silk suits and weren't the common attire one might wear in a desert. Remembering the fabric called denim, he morphed into jeans and a t-shirt like Tony had worn. He completed the outfit with some carpenter shoes much like the pair Thor had worn during his exile. Surely these would suffice even if the material was considerably less comfortable.

He also decided that it might be best if that was the last magic he used, so that he wouldn't be so easily traced by Banner and Stark. From what he'd learned, magic seemed to give off an aura of sorts that their machinery could detect. "Curse the mortals and their technology." He grumbled. Then he made his way toward a dirt road and followed it in the hopes it might lead to a more major road where he could flag down a human in their earth vehicle.

Darcy drove her old beat up range rover down the bumpy dirt road. "Stupid gas station lady and her stupid shortcuts. What kind of direction is 'take a left at the big rock'?" she complained, refusing to blame it on her own lapse in judgment of even trusting the large lady with the missing tooth.

She drove recklessly down the road, wishing she could turn around and go back. But she wasn't even sure of the way back. She nearly hit the man walking along the shoulder.

"What the heck!" she screamed.

Leaping out of her car she marched straight over to the man, ready to give him a piece of her mind for walking so close to the edge, when she caught a glance of his face. Ah heck, why'd he have to be hot?

"Alrighty mister, I don't know who the heck you are, but who in their right mind meanders along the side of a road?" her voice was harsh, with a great effort too. It was hard to be mad when speaking to those gorgeous emerald eyes. Snap out of it Darcy! She scolded herself.

"The road appeared to be quite clear, I'm very sorry though, I didn't mean to frighten you." His eyes were kind and his voice flowed like honey. She instantly felt bad for yelling. He flashed a beautiful straight-toothed smile at her, "In the future I'll be sure to give passing vehicles more room." With that he walked off down the road leaving her speechless and in awe of how kind he'd been. And gorgeous, we cannot forget gorgeous.

Loki walked slowly down the road waiting for the female to fall for his plan. While he wasn't particularly pleased with her attitude, he had to admit of all the females that could have been in that car she was much better a choice. All he had to do now was wait for her to call to him, after a dose of smooth Silver-tongue surely she'd immediately wish to atone for her attitude.

He waited ears on alert for her voice, but nothing. Eventually he heard the roar of the engine and the approach of a vehicle. He was in dismay that she'd been unaffected by his words. The car continued on past him. No one ever disregarded his words so easily. This made him very angry, but also very interested in the woman who'd so easily passed up his charm.

"Darcy you're really rude you know that?" the brunette lectured herself, "He was nothing but kind even after you yelled at him." She sighed. Well either that or he was the world's biggest jerk and it was mock kindness. Just being falsely kind as another way of showing his anger. That would be really contradictory of his smile though… and those pure, sweet, emerald eyes. She slammed on the brakes then pulled over, waiting for the stranger to catch up. The least she could do was offer him a ride. 'And who knows, maybe he can get me out of this place.' She thought, scanning the unfamiliar scenery.

Loki spotted her car on the side of the road. His lips curled into a victorious smile. So maybe the effect was delayed, at least it worked and he wouldn't die in the desert. He approached the driver side window.

"Having problems?" he inquired, once she rolled down the window, pushing concern into his tone.

Darcy wanted to deck him. She knew for sure now that he was just the world's largest jerk. She was angry that'd she'd been fooled and had even stopped the car for him. But now she was in a bind, she'd always been told to be the bigger person and she knew there was no good lie she could tell that he would believe and not see through. So her choices were to either let this stranger in her car or Taser him and drive off. While the second was so appealing...

She sighed, "I thought you might need a ride. People die out here in the desert, and you don't appear to be carrying food or water." She shut up before she said too much. Scanning his gorgeous face, and having to look up to do so, he must have been over six feet tall, she waited for a reply.

"A ride would be very kind of you." He replied, yet simply stood there, those green eyes of his seeming to melt her own.

"Um, hop in the passenger side then I guess." She instructed unsurely. She hadn't expected him to just stand there. But then again, if he'd just hopped in it would have been rather presumptuous and might have made her uncomfortable and annoyed as well. So in the end she decided it was rather gentleman-like of him to wait.

When he hopped in the range rover he gave her another one of those smiles and she had to stop it there. "Alright, buddy let's get this straight. Before I drive off there's going to be some rules. There will be no more of those … smiles, there will be no contact, and questions will be kept to a minimum. You try anything funny and I will Taser you." She was straightforward and completely to the point. She didn't want this guy thinking she liked the idea of having a stranger in her car. "Oh and I'll need to know your name." she added, having almost forgotten.

This girl was rather annoying Loki. First, why in all the nine realms would he feel the need to touch her? He had absolutely no interest in mortal women. Second, she seemed to think his smiles to be of a flirtatious background which they certainly were not. Last but not least, how dare she threaten him? He was a god! Nonetheless he still had to provide her with a name, and his own would not do. And, curse it all, the only mortal name he could think of was darn Tony. Knowing that if he delayed too long she would suspect something, he was forced to use the bloody inventor's name. "Tony." He offered, hoping it was believable, but hating it all the while.

"Do you have a last name, Tony?" the girl questioned.

Loki resisted the urge to curse. He thought quickly, "Foster," he replied, remembering the name of Thor's mortal girlfriend.

The girl blinked, in surprise perhaps? He hoped the name wasn't suspicious but doubted it was. Maybe she'd expected him to be lying and was caught off guard by his immediate response. Either way she offered up her own name, "Darcy Lewis." He had to admit the name had a ring to it.

Loki/Tony sat quietly as Darcy drove along the bumpy road. 'Why doesn't the woman just adjust her velocity, this is making me nauseous!' He complained inwardly, but on the outside he kept a straight face.

"Do you know how long it is until we will come upon the next town?" he asked, with an overwhelming urge to void his bladder.

The look on her face was not promising, "Well um actually. I was kinda hoping you did."

She looked over at him apologetically. Loki wanted to strangle the woman.

"Are you meaning to tell me you haven't the slightest idea of our location, or have I misheard your statement?" His green eyes flashed with anger.

"Well, you're the one who was just wandering down a dirt road! Who does that without knowing where they're going?" she yelled defensively.

Loki wasn't sure how to explain that, so he reacted rather defensively as well, refusing to be beaten by this woman, "What imbecile picks up a stranger when they don't even know where they are? That sounds vaguely like suicide if you ask me!"

Darcy went quiet, at first Loki thought she was just silent with defeat when her heard a sniffle. Was she… crying? For the appetite of Volstagg, what now! Loki was about to apologize when they nearly swerved off the road due to her wiping her tears. How blockheaded! Taking both her hand off the wheel and closing her eyes! He grabbed the wheel, trying to hold it steady, but never having driven a car he wasn't doing much better. Just then he felt a horrible shock and fell sideways into her lap, blacking out.

Alright so maybe Tasing him was wrong, but he had reached over toward he and she had said no contact! She still had one hand on the wheel; there was no reason to try to take over. Still, she felt kind of silly with his head in her lap while she pulled over and put the rover in park.

"Now, you've done it Darcy." She said, carefully sliding out from under Tony (Loki). She walked around to the passenger side and yanked him upright, carefully removing the little Taser thing from his chest like she'd been taught in her defense class. She then made sure he was in a comfortable position and went to get a water bottle from the trunk. It would probably be another thirty minutes or so before he woke up and she decided it would be better to just stay in the car tonight. After all, it was getting dark and she'd been up really early this morning on her way back from her friend Sarah's wedding.

Lucky Sarah… gets married. 'Whereas the only quality time I'd spent with a guy lately was this fruit cup, and there is no way, no matter how hot we is, that I like him. He was mean, obviously a player from the charm he'd displayed, and definitely not my type. Wait, what is my type? Hmmm... Not really sure. Well it's not him, that's for sure!' She sipped her water then grabbed some blankets and pillows from the trunk as well. She learned to be prepared when living in the desert. Let's just say it wasn't her first time getting lost.

She laid a blanket over Tony, trying to ignore the warmth of his chest. She could feel how well toned it was, even beneath his tee, as she pulled the blanket up over him. She placed a travel pillow behind his head and laid the chair back slightly, careful not to jar him. The last thing she wanted was him whining about the sudden awakening not to mention her breaking her own no contact rule more than once now. Grabbing another pillow for herself and a blanket to keep warm, desert nights are pretty cold, she stretched across the back seat.

She thought of the day's events, still curious as to why she'd cried. 'It's not like I was really that upset, just something about him really got to me. I feel bad that I didn't just get myself lost, but him too. Why am I so craving to make this man approve of me? He's a stranger! A meanie of a stranger too! Ugh this is all so confusing. Nighty-night Darcy.' With that she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Loki dreamed he was being caressed by his mother. She rubbed her hand over his stomach like he had a belly ache, yet he felt fine. She then pulled up his covers and placed his head on his pillow. It was nice and it reminded him of those days when all was well, before he'd played the awful trick on Thor and attempted to destroy Jotunheim. He breathed deeply wanting to take it all in, but the air didn't taste right. Instead of his Mother's sweet fragrance the air was dry and made his mouth feel gritty. He opened his eyes and found himself in Darcy's vehicle, with a blanket covering his body and a pillow behind his head. His chair was leaning back slightly and when he turned his head left he could see Darcy sound asleep on the back seat. His expression softened. She looked calm and sweet in her sleep. Not harsh and defensive like she was in her wake. He had to admit he liked this version of her. He watched her for a while; there wasn't much else to do.

After a while he began thinking how he'd hide from Thor and the Avengers. He knew he'd have to do something about his appearance, but cutting his hair seemed out of the question. He liked his hair quite a lot. He knew for a fact he'd have to get as far from here as possible. As long as he was near his entrance sight he was in trouble. They could easily track him to this location, but if he got far enough away, as inconspicuously as possible, he should be safe.

'How to get away though? Could I trick the girl?' He thought as he glanced at her again. 'Possibly, but I'm not sure how. She's practically immune to my charm and I doubt I could lull her into a false sense of security, or at least not enough to get her to take me far from here.' He was exasperated. This would not be easy.*

He realized it was actually rather warm and that he was rather uncomfortable beneath the blanket. He pushed it off when he realized he hadn't gone to sleep with a blanket there. Nor had he been lying back with a pillow. He looked over at Darcy again.

"Some no touching rule." He murmured, realizing the feelings in his dream had more than likely been her and felt slightly violated. He unbuckled and got out of the car, folding the blanket and placing it atop the small pillow. He wasn't sure where to put them so he left them in the seat and went for a brief walk up the road in hope he might be atop a hill and see a town ahead. Also this way if Darcy decided to drive on, having decided he'd left, she would eventually bump into him and he could get back in the car. Assuming she'd let him back in. Now that full memory had returned of the night before, he doubted she wanted him there.

A feeling of hurt rushed through Loki. He knew the feeling all too well. It was the same feeling that came to him the last time he'd spoken with his father. The memory was painful. All he'd wanted to do was prove to his father he was worthy, but nothing of the sort had happened. It was that feeling of loneliness he'd felt when his father denied him. So Loki had let go, given up. Part of him knew that it had been the wrong thing to do, but he'd craved the approval of father. And so now, with that same feeling occupying his gut, he decided to hold on, he would not give up as easily as he had that day. Well, not easily per say. It had been difficult at the same time. All that work to earn father's approval and still nothing gained.

"They say 'nothing ventured nothing gained' here on earth, but is that true? I ventured forever, it seems, and still have nothing to show for it but the blood of hundreds of lives lost for my selfishness." Loki thought aloud, something he rarely did.

'But perhaps you've ventured in the wrong direction.' The voice in his head alarmed him and his steps faltered, just as the sound of a car approached.

Loki felt almost relieved when she slowed and rolled down her window.

"God, Tony you scared me! I thought I wouldn't find you. Do you know how many people die trying to trek across the desert without water?" Darcy seemed genuinely concerned and he felt warmth rise in his chest.

Loki/Tony started laughing loudly, much to Darcy's dismay.

"Hey it isn't funny!" she said, her cheeks flushed; obviously embarrassed that she'd shown so much concern for the stranger.

"But it actually is rather humorous." He smiled at her, having forgotten her rules in that moment. She looked at him. "Maybe you should drink some water. I think the deserts getting to you."

She handed him a water bottle. He, being a god and not requiring sustenance, was of course not thirsty but downed the whole thing to make her feel better. She couldn't be expected to understand his passing joy. She would not… could not ever know how much her genuine concern meant to him.

A/N: Well, Loki has finally met Darcy and he has to admit that while he finds her overly emotional and thoroughly annoying, she also seems concerned for him and that's more than he can even process. Please review. A lot of this is just me making it up as I go and I really appreciate ideas. Lols

Thanks to the reviews CH.1 I was absolutely thrilled and all giggly to know you liked it!

Your fave methodically mad blonde,

Kake3