When in Asgard...
Darcy is unsure as to whether she merits sitting at the right hand of Thor with Jane in the court room. She and Jane had been dressed for the occasion, her ball-gown insanely intricate, woven golden thread through deep blue silky material. The entire hall is packed full of Asgardians, and Darcy hates the way they're staring in their direction. She can't help but feel oddly Midgardian in this gathering of inhumanly beautiful people.
The King looks tired, she notes. His shoulders are slumped, and Darcy wonders whether this is because of the pain of re-imprisoning his son, or because he's just plain bored. Queen Frigga, on the other hand, looks positively frantic. Her hands are at her lap, constantly fidgeting. Darcy suppresses a smile. Loki's mother seems exactly how he had described her- caring, trustworthy. She can easily see why Loki loves her best. She catches her eye, an almost apologetic look on the Queen's face as she turns away.
Her eyes wander to the balconies above, which are also packed with men and women dressed in golden garb. She wonders how many people are here for the fun of it- to see the unpopular prince being imprisoned and humiliated once more. She stops herself when she realises that these people didn't know details, and the imprisoned Loki was the same Loki she had presumed him to be after New York.
Shit. The double doors finally swing open, and Loki walks in. His chains, held by two guards at his side, look heavy from the way he slumps. Darcy is surprised to see that he looks sickly, like he was plucked from his hospital bed just minutes ago. She holds her breath as his gaze passes over her and looks down at her feet.
"Shouldn't he be in the hospital?" Darcy whispers to Jane beside her. "He looks awful."
Jane shrugs and looks straight ahead. "King's orders. He looks a bit peaky I guess."
The court is lengthy, and she wishes she had a seat. It was not as professional as Darcy had thought it would be- Loki and the King mostly bickered whilst the audience watched. She had almost lost it when King Odin had brought up Loki's parentage, almost using it against him as evidence that he should be imprisoned again, but kept her head down and fists clenched.
Then the King mentions her, and the kidnapping.
"In addition to your previous crimes, I have been informed that you broke out of your cell and took a Midgardian female hostage in order to procure your latest weapon: the Sceptre."
Loki closes his eyes in exasperation as Darcy cringes. The audience now knew why the strange Midgardian was stood by Thor and Jane's side, and she felt the entire crowd's gaze fix on her.
"Add it to my list of crimes, father." He is sarcastic, and Darcy has never wanted to slap him more.
"You have no defence against this allegation?"
"No."
"I do." Darcy isn't sure what possesses her to speak up, but she does anyway, a sense of nausea growing inside of her as she takes deep breath.
"Darcy-" Jane begins.
"Hey." Darcy steps forward and cringes. 'Hey?' Really Darcy? She doesn't need to look Jane's way to see the incredulous looks she's shooting her.
"I'm the one he kidnapped, if you guys were wondering. And I…" She trails off, wondering where she was even going with this. She is determined that her defence wasn't to excuse his previous actions- only the kidnapping- but she realises it's too late. By the time she opens her mouth, she realises she's excusing him completely, and hates herself for it.
"I… wanted to defend him… Those few days let me see that this guy isn't such a bad person. Sure, he's done terrible things, and made some god-awful choices, but I'm just testifying on his personality. He's not a bad person. He's stubborn, rude and sometimes downright irritating," that earns her a scowl from Loki, "but he's also considerate, and surprisingly caring when it comes to it."
Odin looks a little more excitable after an unexpected guest takes the stage, and nods for her to continue. Loki, on the other hand, looks mortified, as if Darcy had taken out his embarrassing baby photos for everyone to see.
"I mean, I was his hostage, and an annoying one at that. He should've just left me tied up. But instead he treated me well, healing my injuries, playing stupid board-" At the look Loki gives her, she stops. "Never mind. Just… think about how he can change. I think he's learnt his lesson… I just want that on record. And the fact I'm testifying in his defence means something… right?"
"I won't be invading any major Midgardian cities anytime soon, if that is what you mean." He says sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"There you go," she says, and throws her hand up, her bracelet flying off into the crowd. "Shit."
"Thank you, Lady Darcy." King Odin says in a way she realises he's not thanking her genuinely at all. "It is… lucky you were rescued by Thor, otherwise you would not be here to contest the angelic 'goodness' of your kidnapper."
Darcy screws her face up in disgust. "He wouldn't have killed me!"
She meets Loki's eyes, and sees he's been staring at her intensely since she had defended him. She can't decide whether his look is surprise, confusion, admiration or all of those mixed into one.
"I'm sure he mentioned that to you." The King looks down at her condescendingly. "Tell us, Loki, what they call you here?"
Loki raises his eyebrows. "Why, father, there are many insults thrown my way. I suppose you are referring to my silvertongue, my petulance and wicked way of lying?" He scoffs. "I assure you, when I took Darcy Lewis as my hostage, I fully intended to dispose of her as my final act. That did not change."
His look turns dark as a gasp runs through the court.
Darcy shakes her head and laughs darkly when she realises what he's doing. "Fine." She shrugs in disbelief. "Fine. You save face whilst you're locked up, then. At least you'll have your reputation to keep you company. I don't care."
Darcy stalks off without a single look back and through the side exit into the royal chamber. She's disappointed, sure, but part of her wants to go back out there and shake some sense into him.
"Darce." She can hear Jane cautiously approaching her as she sits on the windowsill, looking out into Asgard.
"I made an ass of myself, didn't I?"
Jane laughs. "A little."
"I am so stupid." Darcy puts her head in her heads, wanting to melt right there, right then. "I can't believe I defended him."
Jane shakes her head. "You want to tell me what happened?"
Darcy looks up at her soft expression and contemplates telling her everything. Instead she blurts out an almost rehearsed opening. She hadn't even realised how much thought she'd put into it in the time between rescue and now.
"I thought it was Stockholm Syndrome. You know, the whole, empathy for your kidnapper thing?"
Jane nods. "But…?"
"But it didn't feel like it. After a while, it felt as if I was… on holiday with a friend or something. Or I took a mentally-unstable dude into the middle of the woods to council him. Either one, really."
"You said he wouldn't kill you."
"He tried. Then for some reason, he backed off and said he couldn't." She stops and thinks. "He said we were… friends."
"Darcy, you have to understand that he's-"
"A bastard? I know." Darcy shuffles over so that Jane can sit beside her on the sill. "But it's not just me seeing the best in people. He was nice to me. He'll probably kill me for saying this, but we played board games, and the night before you guys came, we had Chinese and film night. I could've left, but I didn't…"
"He let you go?"
Darcy nods, biting her lip. "And then Thor beats the shit out of him and he's brought straight to sentencing. If I had left that night…"
"I see what you mean." Jane admits. "As much as I hate to mention it, Thor and I agreed you guys had that whole arguing married couple thing down when we called."
"What?" Darcy screws her face up in disgust.
Jane puts her hands up in surrender. "You were wearing his clothes, and then you argued like an old married couple. It was weird to watch, okay?"
"Weird? Of course it was! It was strategy, okay? Maybe instead of being a typical hostage, I may have gone out of my way to piss him off. And it paid off. He let me live."
"Hm." Jane looks at her as if she doesn't believe her, and Darcy scowls.
"Look, Loki has enemies too. And right now I think he's trying to get himself imprisoned because he's scared." Darcy sighs heavily and hops off the table. "Some weird things came after him at the cabin. They said they worked for some space dude, and they were the ones who needed the sceptre. So all that," she gestures to the door back to the court, "is bullshit."
"Weird things?" Jane is listening intently, and Darcy knows she can't wait to run back to Thor for another joint quest to free Loki this time.
"He called them the ont. They were fucking creepy. Took a lump out of my arm, see?" Darcy pulls her golden bangle aside so Jane can see the full scar that ran down her forearm. "That's when Loki started being so nice to me. There's obviously nothing that screams 'bonding time' than burying bodies in the middle of the woods."
"You did what?" Jane jumps up and is about to rip into Darcy for withholding information when Thor pokes his head around the door cautiously.
"Jane. Darcy." His voice is uncertain, but Darcy sees Jane nod slightly, and this uncertainty fades instantly. It confuses the hell out of Darcy that a small scientist has such power over a bulky God.
"Is it over?" Darcy asks, jumping off the sill.
Thor nods solemnly. "My brother wishes to speak with you before he begins his indefinite imprisonment."
"Indefinite?" Darcy sighs. "Of course. You guys live forever."
"I plan to shorten the average Asgardian life expectancy by a good hundred years. But of course, Odin reminds me often that I am not one of them," Loki's voice interrupts them, coming from the entrance to the chamber. His footsteps are followed by the clanking of his chain restraints, and the footsteps of two guards to either side of him.
"You wanted to talk after that?" Darcy runs to him, wanting to slap the shit out of him.
"We should leave…" Jane's hand finds Thor's and guides him out of the chamber. Darcy doesn't contest, still staring angrily at Loki.
"I didn't want to fight with you, Darcy." His voice is low and urgent. "I wanted to thank you."
"For what? Defending you? You acted like I was, I dunno, a piece of dirt on your shoe when I stood up there and told them!" She realised Jane and Thor could probably hear them on the outside of the door, but shouted nonetheless. "I thought you wanted to stay out of jail!"
Loki tips his head to the side. "Asgardian cells are the most secure place for me right now."
Darcy is about to go off on one again when she realises what he's hinting. Asgardian cells would give him more time against Thanos. He could hardly spell that out in front of the guards who would likely run to Odin at any sign of new information.
"So that's what you want, then?" Her voice is calm now, measured.
"Hardly. Freedom would be a better alternative, but that was unlikely to happen."
"How do you know?"
Loki closes his eyes and shakes his head softly before glancing at Darcy's confusion. "Darcy," he begins. "My father, given an array of evidence that would likely prove my innocence would find a way to see my villainous ways. I've been through this before, and hope would crush me if I dared to possess it."
"So there's no way-"
"No." He says shortly.
"If there's a chance-"
"There won't be-"
Darcy sighs heavily. "Let me fucking finish, okay?" She clears her throat. "If there's a chance you get out early, I guess I'll have takeaway and films at the ready if I'm not dead by that point."
Loki wears a hint of a smile as the guards beside him try to act as if they're not listening.
"I believe you have yourself a deal, there, Darcy Lewis."
Darcy shakes her head. "I fucking hate you, you know."
Loki frowns, confused and speechless by her complete change of attitude. "What? Why?" He finally manages, and catches on as Darcy smiles wryly.
"Because I really want to think you deserve this… but I can't help but think I'll miss you."
She hears the clank of chains before she realises Loki has made a beeline toward her. The guards look panicked, but stop short when Darcy takes the last few steps to him, throwing herself into his embrace, kissing him with such ferocity it almost knocks Loki back. He wants to pull her closer, to feel his fingers in her hair or on her soft cheek, but stops when the chains clank, and cannot move any further. She hears his attempts, and she finds his hand, lacing her fingers through his.
"And there you have something to remember me by." He means to say with humour, but, as he softly rests his forehead on Darcy's, it sounds oddly sentimental in his husky voice. He kisses her again, softly and quickly, almost blown away by the strange feeling of euphoria and release he hadn't felt for centuries.
"You could say that…" Darcy smiles against his lips.
"Step back." One of Loki's guards command. But Loki can't bring himself to say goodbye to the strange mortal he's managed to save from himself. Instead, Darcy pulls him down and kisses him again until the guards grow impatient and pull Loki off her like a dog on a leash.
"Times up." One of them says without malice, and guides Loki toward the door.
"I guess this is goodbye." Loki sees Darcy bite her lip, looking oddly forlorn in the small room, her hands knotted together tightly. He nods slowly.
"Until we meet again." He smiles. As the door slams behind him, Darcy blinks back tears.
"Goddamn it."