A/N: I am so sorry that it's been so long! I do promise that I never leave a story unfinished, it might just take me a while to actually write it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Darcy was so glad it was finally the semester break. The whole summer was her time to relax. Sure, she still had her job at the library (her hours now dramatically cut down due to her other "job") and she was still Jane's intern, but now she had even more time to relax without the worry about school work. Jane had asked whether or not she would be visiting Asgard more now that she didn't have to worry about classes, but Darcy hadn't mentioned the lack of time-suck to Thor yet, so she wasn't sure if she wanted to step up her visits or not.
Loki had been going through a rough patch during the last month, and her visits had been volatile. Two months ago, he had started talking about some of the things that had gone down, stuff even before Thor had been banished to Earth. Darcy had been trying to just talk him through it, and implement her limited psychology knowledge when she was desperate, but sometimes she just had to stand safely outside his cell while Loki raged and destroyed everything he could. Her two past visits had been pretty bad. Loki had told her about Frigga finally, how one of the consequences of his actions had been his mother's death. She had known a little bit of the situation already, what Thor had been able to tell her, but the young woman couldn't imagine the kind of guilt he carried with him, knowing what he did about what happened. She was hoping that the Asgardian was calmer during her visit today. It was worrying her how long his destructive behavior had been lasting. She had consulted with a S.H.I.E.L.D grief counselor who said anger was a normal stage and that it lasted as long as the person needed it too. The information didn't comfort Darcy.
She was wary as she was led down to Loki's cell. It was quiet today at least. On Loki's worst day, he had already been in a destructive rage before she had even arrived for her visit. When the young woman finally rounded the corner she was almost relieved to see that the Asgardian was simply sitting calmly on his bed, staring down at his folded hands.
"Hi Loki," she greeted, stepping into the cell as soon as the wall was lowered. He dipped his head slightly in acknowledgement, but didn't speak. Darcy didn't take offense, preferring the quiet over the frightening, anguished screaming of the previous month. She pulled up a chair to sit directly across from him, debating on whether to wait for him to speak, or go on one of her long ramblings about school. She decided some good news might be better.
"You know, my school is on semester break right now. I still have my job at the library, but I have nothing else really pressing to do back home. So I could visit more if you wanted," she mentioned, almost impatiently waiting to see his reaction. His whole body seemed to tense for a moment before his whole form almost deflated in on itself and sunk inward.
"That…might not be the wisest thing," he finally said, words barely louder than a soft whisper. That was not the reaction Darcy had been expecting.
"Why not?" she demanded, forgetting she should probably use a softer tone.
"The past few visits have shown that although I may have regained my senses, I am still much too dangerous for you to be in my presence. I would prefer that your visits remain to what they are now, perhaps even lessen," he explained, still not speaking any louder than he had to.
"Loki, I understand that you're angry. I don't know whether it's because you're mad at yourself or at circumstances as they are, but I don't think it's a good idea for you to start pulling away from people."
He refused to answer her. Eventually she gave up on trying to speak with him. Before she left, she made sure to leave some of the books she brought for Loki on his bedside table. As Darcy emerged from the stairwell to the dungeon she turned left instead of right, making her way towards the main hall where she knew Thor and Odin would be. She definitely needed to talk to them about Loki.