Darcy flipped her hair over one shoulder as she fluidly opened the yellow door and climbed in, hastily mumbling directions to the cab driver.
He grunted in acknowledgement, and as the cab took off, Darcy leant back in her seat. She looked over at the brown paper bag next to her. Jane's lunch. She'd forgotten it. Again. Darcy rolled her eyes. You'd think an astrophysicist with three degrees would remember to take her lunch with her. But nooo.
About ten minutes later, the cab pulled to a stop in front of that big black S.H.I.E.L.D. building Darcy felt that she knew too well for her own liking.
"Thanks." She called once, throwing a twenty towards the front of the cab and clambering out, almost tripping (hey, no one saw that!), and slamming the door behind her. She pulled on the polished metal handle on one of the huge glass double-doors marking the outside entrance to the building, ready to be bombarded by about a thousand levels of security.
She sighed. This was going to take a while.
"Darcy?!" Jane asked surprised. Darcy simply collapsed onto the other side of the low couch Jane was daintily perched on.
"You forgot your lunch." She groaned, thrusting the paper bag towards Jane. Jane took it, it looking a little surprised. "I did?"
Darcy rolled her eyes. "No Jane, you didn't. That's why I cleared a billion levels of security; to bring you food you already had."
There was a short chuckle, masked with a hasty cough. For the first time since she walked in the room, Darcy looked around.
Loki stood off to the side, looking away at nothing in particular. His hair moved a little before settling down; like he had just whipped his head away from looking at something else. Thor stood a few feet away from him.
"Hello, Darcy!" He said, grinning.
"Hey L- Thor!" Darcy answered, cutting herself off. No way she was going to say Loki. She was going to say something else… Right?
Loki's head shot up. Had Darcy just…? Was she about to say his name? Loki quickly looked back away. Whatever. Why did he care? She didn't matter.
"Miss Lewis, I believe your purpose here is finished." Another voice called out. Darcy scanned the room, trying to source. Aha. Agent Coulson stood in the doorway, arms folded.
"I would suggest you leave. And you too, Miss Foster. I have to debrief… er… Him." Coulson stated, his tone and expression unreadable; professional training, no doubt. Honestly, she didn't like that idea. Why would you train to look and sound like a robot? Why would you even want to? Emotions were what defined humanity. Darcy shook her head, trying to refocus on what Coulson had just said. Wait she had to leave now?
Darcy groaned. "All that security for like one minute…" She muttered, but obediently got up and started to walk out, Jane following a step behind her.
Urged by some feeling she couldn't explain (or repress), Darcy suddenly paused slightly, and turned her head, looking back into the room.
Immediately, a pair of inquisitive, vividly green eyes focused intently on hers. Sane at first look. Just a tint of insanity at the edges.
Darcy looked away as fast as she could, and continued walking out, trying to (unsuccessfully) ignore the feeling of his sharp gaze burning her. She felt her face turn slightly red. She shuddered as tingles went down her spine. Wait, what? All he had done was look at her.
Her last thought as she exited the building was, "Not fair…"
"Are you ready for your first assignment?"
Loki tore his gaze away from the door and back onto the agent. Loki studied him thoughtfully for a second.
"I killed you." Loki simply stated.
"You thought you killed me. Now are you ready for your first assignment?"
Loki looked at Coulson, his head cocked to the side, his eyes debating his answer. Finally, he said, "Your pathetic mortal assignments cannot possibly interest a god. But, no matter. It is to be my punishment, is it not? So give it to me."
Coulson didn't move, his eyes boring into Loki. "Your first assignment is to help rebuild New York. You will be using your superior strength, yes even though Odin took away the majority of your powers, you are still quite strong, to move away damage; chunks of buildings, rocks, anything and everything. Thor and the Avengers will supervise, and help as well."
Loki shot to his feet. "You are giving me a slave's job? I am a GOD!" He yelled.
"Even gods get what they deserve." Coulson simply said before striding to the door.
"How am I supposed to clear damage with this?" Loki spat, holding up his hands, still chained together with handcuffs.
"They will come off temporarily while you work. But don't get any ideas. One step out of line, and you will be killed immediately. Shouldn't be too hard. You may be a god, but at least for now, you are a weak one." Coulson paused in the doorway, flashing Loki a tense smile before strolling out.
Loki rubbed his wrists together. They were still numb with red marks from the handcuffs.
"Loki." Thor reminded again. Loki growled, his face contorted in a mask of anger. He reached down, lifting up a huge piece of stone with both hands.
The anger faded slightly to be replaced with concentration and pain. Hours of this mind-numbing work. The ignorant mortal fools had even had the audacity to gather to watch, like he was some sort of performer.
The humiliation... He was a god! Downgraded to some sort of slave…
"Loki. That is enough for today." Thor finally said.
Loki sighed aloud, then shook out his hands a little. He was exhausted. He'd admit that.
Suddenly, he felt something on his hands. He looked down, expecting to see Thor handing him something; a token of appreciation, perhaps?
But no.
His handcuffs were back on.
"Am I to retire for the night in your living complex again?" Loki asked, too tired to be sarcastic or biting.
Thor awkwardly raked a hand through his hair, nodding sheepishly. "Just a few more nights Br- Loki. We'll arrange something else by then…"
Loki nodded briskly.
Loki strode into Thor's apartment, leaning and turning his head around.
"Are you looking for something?" Thor asked, curious.
"No." Loki replied too quickly. He hadn't been looking for her, had he? No. He hadn't. No way. True, he had thought she would be here. And she wasn't. He tried to bite back the disappointment. He had no reason to be disappointed, did he? No. He did not. Loki clenched his teeth.
"Er… I shall retire presently." Thor announced, slightly awkwardly and then began to walk off.
Loki paused for a minute, then walked towards the couch. He ran a hand over it, then promptly laid down on it.
He began to fall into a strange pattern of sleep and consciousness, dreams flitting through his mind at random intervals, always fleeting, short lived, and on the periphery. But when he did dream, he dreamt of a pair of eyes. Brown eyes. Soft, wide, long-lashed. Her eyes.
A week or so later…
Darcy opened one of her eyes groggily. Uggh. Something was shaking her awake. She groaned.
"Get up, Darcy we're going to go see how New York looks so far." A voice insisted above her. Darcy turned over.
"How did you even get in, Jane?" She moaned, extremely sleepy.
"Still have the spare key under the mat." Jane answered, seeming proud of herself.
"Remind me to move that, will you?" Darcy muttered underneath her breath.
"Darcy get up!" Jane finally said and gave her a little push from the other side of the bed. Darcy, already getting up was taken way off guard by the shove. Darcy shrieked and tumbled over the edge of the bed, falling onto her hardwood floor.
Jane put on a sheepish expression. "Whoops."
Darcy cursed under her breath limping to Jane's car outside her apartment building.
"Sorry, Darcy, really!" Jane apologized for like the eight hundred millionth time. Seriously. It was starting to get annoying now.
"It's okay." Darcy mumbled again, reaching forward and adjusting Jane's rear view mirror so she could assess the damage.
"Crap." A single vibrantly colorful bruise was forming on the right side of her forehead. That on top of the twisted ankle (thankfully she'd had a spare cast at her house) and a thin cut on her left cheek. Uggh. She shook her head.
"Seriously Jane, next time you try to wake me up try not to shove me…"
"I'm so sorry Darcy, really! It was an accident!" Jane cried. Oh god. She actually sounded a little choked up. Darcy chastised herself inside of her head.
"No it's fine." She said. "Come on, cheer up now. We're going to meet your godly-blonde-brick-house boyfriend."
Jane did flash a quick smile at that.
Darcy hummed as Jane drove into the city, her fingers tapping lightly on the dashboard. She looked around. New York looked normal. Wait. New York looked NORMAL.
Woah. Jane slowed down a little. Almost everything, everything, was back to usual. The rubble and debris that littered the streets was simply… gone…
"Thor said he'd be in here." Jane said, turning right onto a different street. Darcy nodded absent-mindedly, too busy gaping at the city.
Then, Jane pulled off to the side, parking her car. Ahead, Darcy could see Thor standing tall in the middle of the street, hammer in one hand, red cape fluttering in the wind.
Down to his left, a wall blocked her view but she could see one foot, clothed in black, stick out. A little corner of green was just barely in her line of vision.
"Hello, Jane, Darcy." Thor called, bounding up then giving each a huge bear hug, looking so much like an excited golden puppy that Darcy had to fight the urge to giggle.
Thor's expression turned into one of worry as he looked over Darcy. "What happened?"
"Oh… Er…" Jane began, stammering.
"I fell down the stairs." Darcy interrupted, supplying a ready answer.
Jane looked at her, surprised, but there was just a glint of gratefulness in her eyes. Darcy flashed a quick smile back. Thor nodded at her once, looking sober, and then plastered another huge grin on his face, taking a few steps forward and holding Jane's hand (who of course, blushed like a little schoolgirl), and started talking to her, completely engrossed.
Darcy rolled her eyes. Typical. "Hey, I'll be back!" She called over her shoulder, walking forward to where Thor was standing earlier. To that corner of green that she'd seen...
"Hello, Darcy." A low voice drawled.
Darcy jumped, startled then walked closer to him, deciding to pretend that had never even happened. Was she (just a little) scared? Hah, no way!
Feeling a little braver, she stood only a few feet away from him as he sat on a bench, slightly hunched over.
Looking at him from a little closer, Darcy gasped.
He was pale. Extremely pale, even for him. His hands were red, especially his wrists where the handcuffs sat. There were gashes and wounds at random places over him, and his hair was disheveled.
"Not such a pretty sight am I?" He asked, looking up. "They've reduced a god to this." He added under his breath, more to himself than to her.
Darcy tried to regain her words. "Well, I'm far from my best myself." She finally said lamely.
Loki studied her looking carefully. He winced a little. "What happened?"
"I told Thor. You must've heard. I fell down the stairs."
"That was a lie." Loki mused.
"No, it wasn't!" Darcy said back defensively, answering too soon.
"Are you really attempting to lie to the God of Lies, mortal?" Loki was suddenly, up out of his seat, his face only a few inches away from hers. His focused green eyes seemed to peer into her soul. As if he mentally dared her to say something.
Darcy didn't of course. Her brain was pretty much shut off at that point. She was just caught in his intense gaze, like a deer in headlights.
Loki backed away and swiftly sat back down, his expression smug. "I thought so. Now what really happened?"
"Jane was trying to wake me up and I didn't get up so she pushed me and I ended up falling off my bed and onto my floor." Darcy blurted out immediately, not thinking.
Loki's mouth twitched upwards. He pressed his lips together, trying to control the urge to laugh. He ended up giving up, chuckling.
Darcy's eyes flashed. "Hey! It's not funny!" She gave him a playful shove and his eyes shot open wide and he groaned, leaning away. His hands immediately reached up to shield his torso.
Darcy gasped. "Oh, did I hurt you? I'm sorry! Didn't mean to!" She said, sincere.
Loki didn't answer, his eyes closed and his teeth clenched together.
"Leave." He said, his tone low.
"What?" Darcy asked, confused.
"I said, leave." He said louder, his eyes opening and glaring at her.
Darcy immediately stumbled a few steps back, almost tripping over her own feet. She started to briskly walk away, throwing a glance over her shoulder at him.
He was looking down, his lips pressed together.
Darcy turned back and jogged forward.
"THOR!"
She didn't understand! Loki screamed inside his head. She didn't know. How shameful it was. How embarrassed he was. First that she would see him in this sorry state. And secondly, that she could, while meaning to just joke, actually hurt him.
Loki clenched his fists, his teeth grinding together. He needed to freaking punch something. If he even had the strength left enough for that. He scoffed inside his head.
How pitiful.
"Loki."
Loki's head popped up. Oh. Thor. Loki glared at him, waiting for him to say something.
Thor didn't and simply looked down at him, frowning. There was something in his eyes. Oh god, no. Was that… Pity? Loki wanted to scream more than anything now. Thor reached down and Loki instinctively pulled back, but Thor continues anyway, and rested his large palms on Loki's handcuffs.
"Double protection now?" Loki spat.
Thor looked away, a flash of pain in his eyes. "No."
And he stood up again. Loki's hands felt different. Less… Heavy. Surprised, Loki looked down. Sure enough, the handcuffs were gone. His wrists were free.
"You're freeing my hands?" He asked incredulously.
"Well… She did bring up a good point; you've worked so hard so far and New York is completely clear-"
"-She?" Loki interrupted. He had a feeling in his gut, that he decided not to trust.
"-and I owe her a favor too." Thor continued. "Darcy."