I've forgotten to update this site, but the story is finished. Um, I'm probably going to go permanently to Ao3 right now, so maybe if y'all want to follow me there...I am deleting the stories not finished here, because I'll only update there. Let me know what you think! Long chapter, this one.
"In the space between chaos and shape there was another chance."
― Jeanette Winterson
The plane flew swiftly in the clear night. It would arrive to its destination in three hours, fifteen minutes time. Inside of it, two people in a complete, resentful silence. At least from one of them.
"Miss Lewis…"
"Cut it, Loki. I'm not talking to you." Darcy answered without even a glance in his direction, but he knew better. It was all fake.
"Only because I think Harry Potter should not have started a relationship with Ginny Weasley after the Battle of Hogwarts?"
Darcy gasped in fury - like she did every time Loki brought up the subject-, glaring at him through her glasses.
One on my favor, he thought.
"I am not going to argue with you all the reasons why Ginny does belong with Harry, muggle."
Ah, the muggle thing. Feeble attempt at insulting him.
Loki chuckled.
"Miss Lewis, between us two, wouldn't you be the muggle one?"
Darcy narrowed her eyes and pointed a finger in his direction.
"Look, Salazar Slytherin, not having magic has nothing to do with being a muggle!"
"Really?" He asked nonchalantly. "I thought that was the very definition of the word. An individual who has no magic or whatsoever."
"Shut the hell up or I'll start talking about being the mother of eight-legged horses, giant snakes and wolves." Loki pursed his lips. "And, FYI, Ginny is the best and you know nothing." She added after a moment.
The sound of his laughter filled the space. Those were still rare occasions, never in the presence of a third person and never twice the same day. But when he laughed, Darcy cherished the sound. It made her happy that her friend was slowly recovering. Eir was a great influence in his life, for she was trustworthy and not even Odin himself could make her talk about the things that Loki said in their conversations. Eir had accepted to see Loki daily, and Thor looked more hopeful than ever asking Darcy about his brother.
"So, what's our mission this night?" Darcy asked after a while. She had been busy and couldn't make it to the reunion where they explained what was happening, so he would have to explain her.
Loki sighed.
"Apparently, there are traitors in Asgard. Odin is suspicious about two of his war generals, they have been a little...ambiguous when talking about strategies. At the same time, the Avengers have been following closely the actions of a group of Midgardians that want to join Thanos. They are the heads, of course, there are others...lots of others. It seems that these two groups are going to reunite tonight, in order to plan a bigger strategy."
"Um, and how does Odin know all this stuff? Like, why is he suspicious? Does he have evidence? I don't want their heads off because he thought someone was trying to betray him."
Miss Lewis was so obsessed with the wrongness of a monarchy that it was almost...endearing. She always questioned Odin's decisions. She always questioned the mere existence of monarchy. She secretly laughed about all the titles Odin's subjects called him. She got angry at the injustice of the Universe. It was almost näive.
Loki turned his head and winked, surprising her.
"No, Miss Lewis. I can assure you these generals are traitors."
Darcy eyed him suspiciously.
"How do you know for sure?"
Loki's smile widened.
"Because they came to talk to me." Darcy gasped. "They offered me to participate and help end Odin's tyranny. In exchange of 'intel', as you would say, they offered me...the throne. Freedom, they said, and the throne of Asgard."
"Did you accept?"
"Of course. I am going to play a game I am very, very good at."
The way he said it, staring at her intently, an almost sensuous note in his voice, sent shivers down her spine. She was unable to speak for a moment, until she got herself together and erased the thoughts from her mind.
"And my role is going to be…?"
"Our main objective tonight is to gather photographic evidence of the conspiracy and, if possible, audio evidence. As a proof of my loyalty to them, I will have you as my prisoner. After all, you are the official ambassador of Midgard and they know and hate you."
"That's...well, actually, I like this idea! Do we have to capture them?"
"Yes."
"Amazeballs! Knock baddies down and give them to the justice. That's what a superhero does. I already feel the righteousness inside of me growing the size of Hulk!" She jested and Loki chuckled. "How many of them are there?"
"Only eight. Four humans, two Vanir and the two Asgardians."
"Piece of cake! Hey, can we pretend like we fought?"
Loki frowned.
"Why?"
"Just because. We've had that fake blood for months and I want to use it! Pretty please?"
Loki sighed again, paying attention to the board of the plane.
"Yes."
"Yes! I will paint a few blows here and there, and be sure as hell I'm going to paint a blow in your nose too."
"Why me?"
"Because I'm a kickass and I want to offer resistance when you drag me inside the snake's nest."
"That will make me look less powerful."
"I'm not going to be your bitch if you don't have a blow..." She blushed. "Well, that was awkward. My point stands though: you're going to be punched."
"If I am punched then you will be my bitch?" He asked innocently, but Darcy narrowed her eyes and pointed a finger at him.
"I'm no one's bitch! I'll just be… a better prisoner. Now, I'll go find that blood."
She turned on the auto co-pilot and turned around, rummaging through some cardboard boxes until she found the small bottle with fake blood inside it.
"Aha! By the way, where are you going to land?"
"Inside the Tower. The meeting is in a bar in the Harlem. You will drive us there, coerced by me, of course."
"Sounds good."
Darcy painted wounds on her forehead and her lower lip, red and swollen, then proceeded to ruffle her hair.
She was wearing a grey, silk blouse and black slacks. Eyeing the false blood with resignation, she let a few drops fall on her blouse and sighed. The amount of elegant, not precisely cheap clothing she had ruined on unexpected assignments was alarmingly increasing, and it wasn't like she had time to buy new ones.
"So? What do you think?" Loki glanced at her.
"You look rather awful, miss Lewis."
"Great." Darcy smiled leaving the things in the box again and turning off the auto co-pilot.
Not fifteen minutes later, they landed in the Avengers tower. The team was already waiting for them.
They approached the Quinjet and Darcy climbed down of it as fast as she could.
"My daughter has finally come to visit me!"
Darcy rolled her eyes and beamed at the man walking towards her with his eyes open wide.
"Tony motherfrikin' Snark!" She punched him on the shoulder playfully and then hugged him. "Also known as my media dad!"
"Oh, my fictional bastard child, I've missed you!"
"Missed you too, jerk!"
She let him go and looked around, smiling and starting to talk to everyone.
Loki had discreetly stayed inside the Quinjet, preparing the weapons they were going to use and making sure everything was in order. The Avengers were not his friends, but hers. He didn't even like New York.
Through the years, Earth's Mightiest Heroes had been either fighting villains or fighting each other during the Civil War. In that time, new members had been added to the team. A girl with very interesting powers, a guy with a metal arm that was Steve Rogers' best friend, and another boy, one who could run faster than anyone he had ever met. There were others, he knew, but he still hadn't met them.
He felt a hand on the shoulder and jumped, startled. The Black Widow looked at him with her usual indecipherable smirk.
"Everything okay?" She asked.
Natasha Romanoff was the only one that could get near him without him noticing. It was disturbing. Loki nodded.
"I'm glad."
She left him without another word.
Loki sighed and climbed down the Quinjet, preparing himself to interact with the people that once had defeated him.
"Good evening." He greeted.
Suddenly, he felt the invasion of another mind trying to read his thoughts and narrowed his eyes at the Witch, Wanda.
"I would appreciate if you stopped that." Loki said through gritted teeth, trying not to give her a taste of his powers.
"I'm sorry, it's a bad habit of mine." she said, but her smile was a little too wide for it to be true.
Her mind draw away and Loki looked around him.
"How have you been, Reindeer Games? Fancy a drink? The Tower is brand new - again-. Apparently this time can resist the attacks and stop falling."
Loki grinned to Anthony. Maybe not all the Avengers were his enemies.
"I'm fine, and no, thank you."
"No alcohol before a mission? Very healthy."
"Indeed."
the Man of Iron winked at him and both walked to where Miss Lewis was gesturing vividly and telling anecdotes.
"...and then boom! All the dwarves threw their axes and hit the same spot over and over again. It was awesome! Very Tolkien-ish."
Loki's mood fell. His...Thor, was there. He was smiling and nodding to corroborate Miss Lewis' story. Pietro, the fast-runner, was staring at her with a certain look in his eyes…
Loki stepped forward.
"Miss Lewis, everything's ready." He called.
"Oh!" Her smile faltered for a second, but she quickly recovered. "Alright. Let's go then! Bye guys!"
They both turned around and started to leave.
"Brother." Thor stopped him in his tracks, but Darcy continued her way to the Quinjet. She had to gather the weapons and she didn't want to listen to Thor and Loki arguing again.
"Brother" he repeated "be careful. These men are dangerous."
Loki was about to retort something hurtful, just to have a bit of fun, but for some reason he couldn't manage it.
"I will." He simply said. He left before Thor could say anything else.
Loki and Darcy took the weapons and headed to the elevator. The car was waiting for them at the basement.
"As usual I am carrying the heavier weapons. Really, you could use a little more chivalry on your side."
"Miss Lewis, I can assure you the things I'm holding are heavier than the ones you are."
"You're the God of Lies!"
"Very well then." Loki placed the equipment carefully on the floor. "Exchange."
"Time to prove my point" she teased,but her eyes widened when she lifted up the weapons Loki was holding seconds ago. He had his arms crossed and a knowing smirk on his lips.
Darcy stared at him half a second.
"Nevermind. Give me my equipment back!"
"I think you mean our equipment, Miss Lewis." Loki was clearly making fun of her, but she giggled.
"Yeah, it might be ours but I am the one carrying it to the car."
"I told you."
They exchanged the weaponry again and finally headed to the elevator. The doors closed behind them.
"I wonder how much time will take for these two to finally get down and dirty." Commented Tony when they were gone. His statement was followed by various noises of affirmation, a sigh from Thor and a scoff from Pietro.
Wanda only had the tiniest of smirks on her face.
Darcy drove the car through the streets of New York singing along to every song they put on the radio. The Harlem was an hour away and Loki realized she was doing that to calm herself.
"Aaaaall byyy myyyseeelf! Dont wanna beeeee, all byyy myyyyyseeeelf, anymooore!"
Loki stared through the window. At least she wasn't a bad singer, though midgardian songs left much to desire.
A while later, Darcy parked nearby when Jarvis indicated her that the bar was close, and took the brush and the fake blood out of her bag. She looked at him expectantly, asking permission.
"Go ahead. Before I change my mind." He warned, but she didn't take it seriously.
"Okay." Darcy studied his face intently. "So, let's say I punched you in the nose...from the left, the blow would be just...here." She poked his nose. Her skin was warm and soft.
The touch awoke a lot of sensations in Loki's body. She was unaware of it, humming happily for herself and grazing his skin with the brush. When she was finished, she took his chin between her fingers and moved his head to the side.
Loki was almost agonizingly aware of the warmth of her fingers, her smell, the little grin playing on her full lips...those lips, by the Norns! Who was to blame for those lips?
"I think it's nice." She snapped him out of his thoughts.
"I will cast an illusion over your clothes, so they appear a little more...ruined. The fake blood is doing a good job already, but not nearly good enough for this people. Close your eyes."
Darcy did it and felt the tingling of Loki's magic all over her body. She shivered. It was like feeling...
"There. Done."
"Let's go! Um, I mean, let me go, bitch?"
They climbed out of the car and walked to the bar. Loki grabbed her by the wrist and twisted her arm carefully. She used her other hand to take off the little vial with fake blood and put a few drops on her teeth, making them seem bloodied.
"I thought you were my bitch." He commented and she stepped on his foot.
Darcy became serious when the bar was on sight. She focused on her job: pretending she had been just betrayed by one of their most powerful allies against Thanos. Loki held her tightly but not to the point of pain.
They entered the bar and Darcy could only see that it was dark and it smelled like smoke before Loki shoved her into the nearest chair, in front of the group.
That was so not like the movies! The traitors were not meeting in some dark, abandoned building or in the darkest corner of the bar, speaking in whispers. No. They were in the middle of the place, talking loudly to each other as if they were immune. Maybe they could have used some more movies. There was no way SHIELD didn't know about this meeting if they were so bold as to reunite in such a public place.
"Good evening, Loki." Said one of the Asgardian generals. Darcy knew him. His name was Egil. He had always been kind to her.
She wondered what had Thanos promised him to make him change like that. There was nothing kind about his grey eyes. Nothing at all.
The other only Asgardian she knew was Aghi.
"Gentlemen." Loki nodded and sat next to Darcy without a spare glance,a vain grin on his lips, like he was the boss. All of them nodded with varying degrees of respect.
"Miss Lewis…" Started one of the Vanir, looking at her. "What do you think you are doing tonight in this place?"
She glowered at him.
"Obviously, I am not having a drink."
Loki was impressed. Her acting skills were almost perfect. She seemed scared, but also reckless. He wondered how much truth that acting had. He could tell the others believed her.
"Oh, well, that's just the tip of the iceberg...as a matter of fact, you are here for two reasons. Firstly, because you must pay for what you did to the Vanir on your last mission there. Secondly, because you have information that The Supreme wants."
Despite herself, Darcy snorted.
"Yeah? Wait, so, does he make you guys call him 'da supreme', or did you just made that up?"
One of the men slapped her and Loki had to push down the sudden rise of killing magic in his chest.
"What's the plan, then?" He said, breathing deeply and still ignoring her.
"Control your human pet, or The Supreme will take care of her." Warned one of the Vanir, but Loki shrugged.
"I doubt he will. She's nothing. Or is she too much for you?"
"She knows the location of one of the Infinity Stones. The Supreme wants it. We will take care of her."
Meanwhile, she had paled.
Darcy knew things she wasn't supposed to. It was...a talent, if she could say so herself. She wasn't supposed to know about the Inhumans, for example. She wasn't supposed to know about Wakanda, or about HYDRA and their brainwashing. She knew all those things.
She also knew what the Infinity Stones were.
They had the power to bring the end of the Universe.
The only problem was, she wasn't the one who knew the location of one of them.
That was Jane, and Darcy hadn't been able to persuade her in any way to tell her.
She swallowed hard.
Loki felt his mind stop for a moment.
Miss Lewis wasn't supposed to know that.
Hel, he had tried to know but the information had been carefully hidden from him. Especially hidden from him.
Meanwhile, her usually rosy cheeks were almost white.
"Who told you that bullshit?" Her voice quivered ever-so-slightly. Loki was the only one who noticed.
"Bullshit? I have Odin's trust. Do you doubt him?"
Darcy laughed almost hysterically, but Loki interrupted.
"As much as I want to discuss about how stupid the Allfather is, how do you plan on extracting this information out of her?"
His eyes wandered over her almost casually.
"Torture, unless you have something better in mind." Aghi eyed him, a dirty, knowing look.
He was still looking at her, his green eyes almost boring into hers. She could see the tiniest spark of magic right inside the black pupil.
"Oh, torture is not the best method. If Odin trusted her with this information, it is because he knew she would not be easily broken by torture."His lips curved up in the most shadowy smirk she had ever seen on him. Darcy felt a hand on her knee, trailing upwards slightly. She flinched and more color drained from her face. "There's a much simpler method. Let me take care of her. I know her. I know her... weak spots. It shall be fun. Her own shame will be so heavy that she won't be able to call for her friends. It will taint her for the rest of her miserable, short life."
"Monster!" She spat, lurching her body to scratch his face, fury in her features but fear in her eyes. He held her easily and pushed her on her chair again. She rose up again and Loki snapped his fingers, tying her hands to her back and her legs to the chair.
"What do I gain in this, besides this…pet? She won't last much."
Everyone around the table seemed to wake from a dream, except the Asgardians.
"You'll see, Loki, that is the reason you are here as well...Odin said something very interesting just last night. We honestly thought you were Asgardian, but then the Allfather called me last night to ask me a favour. And he told me your dirty family secret. After, of course, asking me to keep an eye on you."
"We thought you Asgardian all along, you see? But instead, you're not his son. You're not even Asgardian. You are the filthy bastard of a monster. Laufey. So no, you are not going to make the mortal confess. She will be mine." Added the other Asgardian, despite and fury in his voice.
Apparently, they were all aware of the situation. His heritage.
Everyone stood up at the same time and Loki broke the spell that kept Darcy tied up to her chair.
"You aren't to survive this night, monster offspring!"
One of the Vanir suddenly pulled out a blowgun and shot a dart at Loki, hitting him on the shoulder.
"Not again" Loki muttered, taking it off sharply. But the poison was already in his system and his magic was suddenly out of his reach. "Nevermind Odin's orders, Miss Lewis. I am going to kill them."
"He has no magic! Finish him!" Someone screamed.
That was Darcy's moment, since nobody had noticed she was free. She pulled out a gun from her previously magically hidden bagpack, shot one of the humans and punched another in the face. The man grabbed his nose, whimpering.
"No killing!" She shot out to Loki and threw a spare gun at him. Tony had given them the pistols that had dendrotoxin-something...I.C.E.R's? Darcy had heard something like that. Anyways, it was not possible to kill someone with that kind of gun.
Loki's face wrinkled in anger. He caught the weapon Miss Lewis threw at him and quickly shot one Vanir and Egil, the Asgardian that he hated the most. Aghi pointed at him with a sword and Loki smiled a half-mad smile before starting to fight.
Darcy dodged a kick and received punch in the gut that sent her tumbling to the ground, weapon firmly clutched in her hand. She wasn't about letting it go.
"Jesus!" She kicked the man in the crotch and he fell besides her, screaming. "God damn it, dude! Fuck you!" She took his gun, threw it away and resolved it was not worth wasting a toxic bullet. He wouldn't be back up so soon. She glanced at Loki. He was fighting Aghi and one of the Vanir. He caught the blowgun and split it in two. He was busy.
Darcy crawled and knocked over a table to cover behind it. A man pointed at her and another screamed something about not killing her.
Right. They needed her alive. Cliché.
She stood up, gun ready, and a the guy she had kicked in the balls tackled her. Miscalculations about men¡s tolerance of pain right there, she thought while falling down again. The man tried to pin her down, but Darcy writhed frantically, trying to free her hand and shoot him.
She had managed to be half up again, when another man kicked her hand and forced her to let her weapon go. Darcy whimpered in pain and finally gave in and punched the one that had her in the face. He fell on her lap, his nose bleeding a lot and fortunately knocked out.
The next, she never saw it coming. There was a crash on the back of her head, the certainty of the cracking sound on her skull that could only mean something had broken, her teeth clattering together, a searing pain, and then everything went black.
Loki did see it. One mortal had her trapped by the legs, another had took her weapon and there was a third one approaching from behind. Her lip was bleeding. She had several cuts on her arms that she probably didn't realize were bleeding too. There was one man stunned, another had just been knocked out by her, but she wasn't noticing…
The third disarmed her.
The fourth one made the fatal mistake.
He was a tall man. Short hair, furrowed brow… He had a chair in his hands. A total detachment on the situation. Lifeless eyes.
He crashed the chair on her head.
Darcy's blue eyes widened in pain and shock before her body went limp on the floor. The man bent to grab her and take her away.
Afterwards, he wasn't really sure how he had managed. Vanir and Asgardians were powerful enemies.
He got rid of them and ran, stopping in front of the man before he could touch Miss Lewis. Loki lifted him up by the neck. When the man was standing up, he gripped his throat smirking, feeling the blood run in his arteries and pressing his fingers even more to stop the flow.
The blood stopped running and he felt the man's larynx under his palm. His face was almost blue and he was desperately gasping for air, his fingers trying to free him from Loki's grip.
More.
More.
More.
His neck broke with a snapping sound and when he fell to the floor, he was dead.
Loki realized there was another man standing at his side.
It was the owner of the bar.
"Mind your business if you want to live." He warned, but the human made a gesture for Loki to look around and he saw everyone else was knocked out and the owner of the bar had Darcy's gun in his hand.
Loki examined Miss Lewis. He had never thought she could be so...unbearably human. It was, perhaps, the fact that she had hold her own in every single mission and even saved his life once that tricked him into almost forgetting how much of a human she was. Her friendship'd had influenced into that as well.
His fingers found her neck before his mind truly acknowledged the situation. She was alive, she was breathing, but the wound in her head was potentially mortal. Her blood was staining the floor.
Darcy whimpered and barely opened her eyes.
"Darcy" he called softly, his fingers barely brushing her neck.
"L...Loki?"
He needed to take her to the Avengers Tower in that moment.
"Heimdall, I shall take Miss Lewis to a healing room in the Tower. You can let the Allfather know that he can send someone to collect the prisoners any time now."
He remembered the man and turned around.
"Who are you?"
"A friend. Could you stay here and watch over these?" He almost yelled, staring to the ceiling. Loki shot him an incredulous look.
A woman with a stern look on her face appeared from a staircase and walked to them without a word.
"She's injured. We will take her to Tony's."
She nodded and gave him the tiniest of smirks before taking out rope from somewhere. She started tying the enemies up.
The owner of the bar turned to him.
"Let's go", he indicated with a nod of his head.
Loki had carried injured people before. Thor -more than once-, Fandral in Jotunheim, Sif in one memorable occasion in which she spared him her usual insulting phrases...but he had never, even been so careful. He kneeled besides Darcy, whom was blinking slowly but otherwise unresponsive, and the man spoke up.
"We need to put her on a plain surface." He walked towards the nearest table, tore apart its legs and put it on the floor. Loki realized that the mortal man probably had some superhuman ability. He went to Darcy's feet and grabbed her ankles. Loki put a hand on the small of her back and another just where the neck joined the head.
"We'll move her at the count of tree. One, Two...three!"
Darcy was on the improvised stretcher, though she didn't seem to realise.
"Tell him where the shortcut is so you can get there faster." The woman said.
Loki grabbed the table and started dragging it towards the exit. The black man went outside first, still holding Darcy's gun, to check it was safe to get to the car.
"What's your name?" Asked Loki to the woman, who was already staring at him.
"I'm Jessica. Jessica Jones." She replied, and kicked the Asgardian that was starting to move with a little too much force.
"Thank you, Jessica Jones."
She nodded.
With the help of the man he put Darcy in the back of the car. Loki felt a slight numbness in his fingers. His magic was coming closer. Clever from the enemies to restrain his magic, knowing he wasn't a powerfully skilled warrior like he was a sorcerer.
Unfortunately, even when he had the magic enough to do it, he couldn't cure her. Healing magic had never been his forte, and he could only heal himself.
"Tell Stark to prepare his Midgardian experts. Darcy is injured and it is serious."Loki said to Jarvis as soon as he started the car.
The ride to the Tower was fast and brief. Loki was driving and to him, speed limits meant nothing. The man indicated the shortcut and that saved them time as well. When they entered the private parking lot, Tony and Thor were already waiting for them, with a real stretcher and doctor Helen Cho, a famous mortal woman whom Darcy seemed to adore.
Loki pressed the brakes and climbed down to open the door, already feeling dizzy from the effects of the poison and lack of adrenaline.
Everything started happening in flashes and bits.
"You should've called me!" Tony screaming. A hard, plastic structure being put around Darcy's neck. Her blood in the back of the car. His magic, still unreachable.
The sound of the stretcher's wheels on the floor, dragging Darcy away.
A moment later, a hand on his shoulder.
"Brother. The enemies have all been captured."
Loki took a small knife from his hidden pocket and stabbed his brother on the side. He flinched in pain, but recovered quickly. After all, unlike humans, Asgardians healed in seconds.
The rage he had been containing since the moment he saw Darcy on the floor suddenly exploded inside him. His vision red, he charged at his brother with a battle cry.
Only later, when he found himself at the training rooms, everything around him broken or torn apart and his brother tightening his grip around his neck, he realized.
"I am not your brother, idiotic Allfather's puppet." He hissed, breathless.
Thor loosened his fingers and Loki fell on his knees, panting heavily.
"Not by blood." Thor answered and wiped sweat out of his forehead. "And I am not a puppet. Go take a shower, Loki. You are injured."
As soon as he gave him his back, Loki attacked again.
He woke up later in a dark room, head spinning and mouth dry. He tasted his own, metallic blood on it.
The light switch was near the bed and he turned it on, wincing when he realized his arm was still recovering from one of Thor's famous grapplings.
There was a note on the nightstand.
"Take a shower. T."
"Go fuck yourself." Loki muttered before getting up and taking off the battered armour, piece by piece. "Fuck you, Asgard, Midgard, mortals, your own offspring, your mortal and Odin above all. Fuck all of you."
The water was warm against him. He washed the blood and rubbed his body with the sponge until his skin was sore and irritated and the sponge was a useless piece of something he couldn't name.
The door was locked. His magic was still unreachable. The fighting with Thor had delayed his own healing process.
"Fuck Vanaheim and fuck their poisoned weapons." He added, just to be sure, and got dressed with clothes that were too big for him. He turned around and saw the bed.
It was a messy tangle of linens and mud and dirt. Before he could think about it, his hands were tossing them to the other side of the room.
Loki was sitting on the naked bed when the door opened and Bruce Banner stepped in carefully.
" Thor sent me. I brought you tea." He said, quickly eyeing the mess of sheets right besides the door.
"Tell Stark to get better ones." Loki pointed at the sheets with a sneer.
There was a small table and two chairs just in front of the bed, and Banner placed the mug there and sat, making himself comfortable without permission.
"So, earlier. Thor told you that the traitors were captured and the mission was successful and you kinda lost it. Also, he wanted to tell you that we know you killed one of them. You owe Fury an explanation about it. The guy was human. Anyways, Darcy is not...um….in critical condition right now. You can go and see her, if you want, but she will be in a real hospital tomorrow."
"I don't want to. I have better things to do with my time."
He went back to Asgard that same night, back to his "domiciliary prison", as Darcy would call it just to tease him.
In the morning, Eir appeared at his door.
Contrary to popular belief, Loki's room was not a well organized, "orderly" place. He didn't like to have his books in clean rows, they were better in piles according to his interests, and the maids knew better than to touch his things. They barely went to his room if it wasn't for dressing him, or at least that was before he started his sentence. Everything was apparently a chaos, but he knew exactly where to find what he needed and when he needed it.
He could pretend everything was perfect "the Asgardian way" with his magic. But Vanir's poisons were strong and his seidr still felt...odd.
He smiled when Eir eyed his room, pursing her lips.
Eir was one of the oldest Asgardians still alive. Her hair was white like the air of the winter, and she possessed a wisdom that could maker seem equally cold, but her brown eyes and kind words were warm, firm and understanding.
The first time he had seeked her had been to ask about Frigga. She had an oath that prevented her from lying, one that she had taken when she became the most important healer in the realm. But when he saw her, the courage failed him and instead she had asked the questions. And in the end she had offered him to talk and promised she would never tell anyone about their conversations. Just one hour each day.
He had accepted.
They had never talked about Frigga. Eir had tried to bring up the subject, but he always refused to say anything.
That morning, she asked the questions again. Eir talked with him for hours.
Later in the week, Odin ordered him to go and talk to Nicholas Fury.
When Fury was done scolding him like a child for killing a "possible source of invaluable information", Loki headed out the office in search of the coffee machine in the living room. He endured all of this only because Thanos was a greater threat. He didn't actually give a damn about Fury's organization.
"So, have you visited your nerdy friend?" Stark's voice called and Loki turned around.
"She is out of danger, isn't she?" Loki replied nonchalantly.
"She is now. She actually asked like crazy about you. She wanted to know if you were okay. Isn't that cute?" Loki pursed his lips while Stark showed a sly smirk.
"Did anyone tell her that I am unharmed?"
"Yes. I did. But if you could explain it in person, that would be ideal." Iron Man crossed his arms.
"Is that so? May I ask why?" Loki feigned disinterest.
"Well...aren't you his friend?"
"She is an ally, and a partner in missions."
Tony stared at him for a whole minute, his brown eyes boring into his green ones. Loki didn't shift, didn't even change his expression.
"Yeah, right." Stark turned around and made it to the door. "By the way, she's in Mount Sinai Hospital, the Neurosurgery one. Not too far. I'm gonna let Fury know you'll be there. He wanted to visit Darce too."
Loki scoffed and finally left.
Earth's hospitals were very different from Asgard's "healing rooms" (pretentious name if there was one).
For example, Asgard had actual rooms. Ample, well lit rooms. You could smell flowers and see the sky and you had a special nurse just for you, 24/7. Darcy had been there when Jane had the twins, and she was impressed.
Of course, Darcy had hit her head pretty bad and Odin didn't say a word similar to "bring her here to cure her". So, she was in a hospital. It smelled like a hospital: disinfectant, disease and just a generally ominous smell.
Yeah, she had her own room. But it had nothing of the majestic beauty of Asgard, it was certainly tiny, with the walls a light creamy color that she hated, and a small chair right by her bed, a little tv and a moody nurse who wouldn't talk about anything.
Her head hurt like a bitch, she got dizzy over nothing and the food...the food was utter blasphemy.
At least Stark was paying for it all and she didn't have to share the room with some other poor soul.
"I know that face, Darce. Stop thinking about the healing rooms up there."
Darcy sighed.
"This place sucks. Can I go already, Jane?"
"What are you, ten? Tell me, if I got you a chocolate, would you stop ranting about this hospital?"
Darcy mulled over the thought.
"Nope. But you still gotta get me chocolate. I'm sick and helpless, remember?"
Jane shook her head, a light smile pulling at her lips.
"Alright. When I come back we're gonna watch a movie."
"Perfect. Been waiting to see Inside Out for a long time."
As soon as her best friend left the room, Darcy stood up and walked cautiously to her coat, searching inside the pocket until she fished out a cigarette and her lighter.
She needed to smoke so freaking bad…
Yes. Eir had taught her a bunch of relaxation techniques, and her therapist on Earth had done the same. They were all really useful and had helped her a lot over the years.
Anyways, smoking...not that she did it too often, for everyone would have realized by now. In fact, she was pretty sure no one knew.
She had picked up the habit during the Civil War, while watching the news, drinking coffee and wondering why humans were so stupid. Why the ones that should be protecting the society were tearing it apart. Darcy stepped to the tiny little window -she still could see Stark Tower, so it wasn't that bad, and it was snowing- and put the cigarette between her lips, ready for her to light.
"Miss Lewis?"
Without thinking, Darcy tossed the cigarette and the lighter out the window and turned around a little too quickly, wincing in pain.
Loki was there, wearing a suit and his usual stern expression.
"What were you doing?"
Darcy's mouth opened a couple times but no sound came from her throat.
"I..um...enjoying winter time?" Loki didn't even need to scoff at her. Darcy gave in. "Okey, yeah, I was trying to smoke a cigarette before Jane went back here. I… it s not a very good thing to do, I mean smoking. She would rant about cancer and smell…"
"Why do you do it then?"
Darcy mulled over the thought.
"I… it's just just a habit, I guess. A bad one."
She shivered when when a sudden gust of wind entered through the window and, closing it, she went back to bed.
Loki noticed how unconsciously careful she was with her own movements. She wasn't completely healed, then. Her head was bandaged but he doubted that the linen had healing spells in the very tendrils, like in Asgard. He would have to ask Foster. Her brown locks were nowhere to be seen, probably under the bandages.
"Please, have a seat. Make yourself comfortable. Fury should should be here in no time. Just got a text. He's gonna scream and throw some fucks and damns. Jane will be here to watch it."
Loki sat down, trying not to show how weird the situation was.
"How have you been?" Darcy asked,smiling at him like she wasn't the one with with a head injury.
"I should ask that to you, Miss Lewis." He chuckled.
"Call me Darcy. You saved my life, I saved yours and we share books. Plus, you are seeing me in this horrible state and you know my secret. You can use my name."
"Very well… Darcy. How have you been?"
She shrugged.
"I've been better, but you know, I'm outta here tomorrow."
Though her words and smile was almost the same as usual, which could be attributed to her injures, somehow Loki knew Darcy was hiding something from him.
Jane chose that moment to burst in and stay talking without a glance around.
"You know what? I got you this chocolate that is not cheap, I had to press the guy selling it with my authority and Asgardian status and when I was heading back, it started snowing. A lady tripped and fell and I had to call an ambulance because, you know, it was a defenseless lady and I couldn't exactly call Heimdall for her. So yeah, you are going to eat this chocolate thinking about how you made me flash my 'space princess' card and be really grateful for it." Darcy scoffed.
"You flashed your space princess card for a piece of chocolate and you can't flash it for…" Darcy rolled her eyes and closed her mouth, conveniently remembering that Heimdall could hear everything and he was definitely going to hear her insulting Odin. "Nevermind. Gimme!"
She made grabby hands and Jane threw the chocolate at her, causing Darcy to wince again from the quick movement she had to do to catch it. It was worth it.
"Reflexes: check." Jane turned around, spotted Loki and shrieked.
"MOTHER OF GOD!"
"It is actually a horse with eight legs. Sleipnir. I saw it on Asgard's stables." Darcy added calmly and ripped the package of Toblerone with the look of a pirate finding a treasure. Loki glared at her.
"Good morning." He said shortly to Jane, who was still breathing quickly and had put a hand over her chest.
"Yeah, good morning…"
Jane and Loki didn't exactly like each other. Loki had saved her life a few years ago, but she was Thor's wife, and Jane had never really forgave him for New York, the Destroyer and the little "usurping Odin's throne to hide from Thanos" thing, which was in her right to do if she wanted. Darcy took it as calmly as she could. She was friends with both, and pay little attention to their antics.
"Janey, Loki, since I am a great, kind and generous friend, I will share this." She handed a piece of chocolate to each, and only Loki was ignorant enough as to stare at it suspiciously. "Eat, dude. There's nothing like this on Asgard."
"Indeed. This is only from Earth and Asgard could never, ever produce something with this amount of quality." Jane chirped in a fake English accent just to annoy him.
Loki raised an eyebrow.
"How would you know?" He asked with a sly sneer on his face. Jane furrowed her brow at him.
"I actually ran a test in there to see if…"
"It turns out you can't. So here's one thing you've never tasted before, mister I-know-everything-there-is-to-know-about-anything." Darcy interrupted Jane. As much as she didn't pay attention to their arguments, she didn't want to be present while Jane went on and on about some study on Asgardian dirt, and it was not like she could leave the room.
Loki stared at the tiny piece of chocolate and smelled it carefully. His lips opened and he nibbled onto the chocolate. After a few seconds, he searched Darcy's face with his eyes and gave an approving nod. Meanwhile, Jane had eaten her piece and was asking for another.
They were finishing with the chocolate between hums of pleasure and comments on the weather when the door opened and a nurse came in and saw the ripped, bright package on Darcy's lap.
"Young lady! You are not supposed to skip the hospital's diet! You've been through a very strong trauma and…"
"I wasn't eating. They were. I promise."
The nurse didn't buy it for a second.
"This could alter your blood test results!"
Darcy winced.
"Why do you need another blood test?"
The nurse shook her head.
"Just routine. I will have to let the lab know about this. Also, we are going to change your head's bandages."
"Not now. I am expecting someone important."
The nurse looked at her confused, while looking for the sterilized needle near Darcy's bed.
"Why not welcome your 'important' visit with a clean bandage?"
To Loki's utmost surprise, Darcy blushed. Red crept up her neck and cheeks and she crossed her arms, looking frustrated. Somewhere deep within his twisted mind, he approved of the movement. It certainly highlighted her assets.
"We..Well, because I don't want to have my bandages changed with my guests around me! It's...embarrassing! Change them in the afternoon, please?"
The nurse'd had enough. She stood up in her entire height -which wasn't much, at least in Loki's opinion- and stepped towards Darcy's bed with the needle in her hand.
"Listen carefully, young lady. You've had a very ugly concussion, and your injury needs daily caring. Also, you are supposed to eat only what we give to you. I have no idea what your job is" Jane was standing next to Loki and she hid a smirk behind her hand. "and who this important visit is, and I really don't have time enough to come back in the afternoon. We are very busy in this place. So, give me your arm and follow my instructions."
Darcy was red - Loki noted she was furious- but she extended her arm and tried to relax it. She had several little purple marks in that arm.
When the nurse had taken blood from her - Loki was most interested in this method, finding it completely primitive-, the worst part started.
She closed her eyes when the nurse started to unroll the bandages around her head. Her face expressed such humiliation that it was hard to watch, and Jane, who had been laughing a few minutes ago, was now staring outside with a hint of pity in her features. Loki didn't understand what was happening until the nurse took the entire bandage out of her.
Darcy's head had been shaved. Her long, carefully combed hair of the past was nothing but short fluff. Her face, full of strong features, looked weird without her thick waves to frame it. Loki stared at her in surprise, noticing that Jane gasped when she saw the injury in her friend's head: a long, angry line, still red and covered in stitches. Loki understood that the healers weren't able to see the affected place very well and that's why they had shaved her, bur Darcy's eyes were suspiciously red and she wasn't even glancing at them.
Muttering for herself the nurse finished her job without paying attention to the fury and hatred emanating like a powerful wave from her patient.
After she closed the door, Jane excused herself and left the room, probably to flash her "asgardian princess" card at the nurse and scold her for being such an insensitive bitch.
"Ahem…" Loki started, but Darcy turned around her head violently -wincing again- and raised a finger to him.
"You better not mock me about this, Loki. I'm not in the mood for jokes, not with this. You can mock me about my violet arm" she pointed at it, "my hospital clothes, this fucking place full of humans and even my general aspect, but not my hair. I will rip your balls off as soon as I can hold a knife again if you mention it. I will make Banner hulk the fuck out and wipe the floor with your guts. I fucking promise I will!"
He froze. Darcy Lewis was crying in front of him, her eyes full of fat tears and her lips pursed.
Loki opened his mouth to speak, but she continued before he could do it.
"I know I shouldn't be crying over the dead cells that grow around my head, but in case you haven't noticed, which I am sure you haven't because why would I tell you, my hair was.. my favourite thing in my head after my brain. It really was. I have seen Asgardian girls with worse hair than me, so please, I loved it even more for that. It's not easy to compete with Asgardian chicks. So if you are going to say I look like a bald fucking mess, yes, I do. Thank you. Move on with your life. It will grow again, eventually."
"I was going to say I can regrow it now." Mischief made his eyes shine like emeralds in the light. Her ashamed expression became one of astonishment and awe. He had to admit he relished the look of adoration that flooded her face.
"Can you?"
Loki's smile widened.
"Oh yes. But it has a price."
She grew suspicious.
"A price?"
"A small price." He clarified.
Darcy crossed her arms.
"Tell me the price and I'll tell you if I want your...mojo or whatever on my hair."
"You mean the hair you still don't have?"
She glared at him and threw him an empty plastic cup that he dodged easily.
"No jokes about this, fucker!"
"Fine!" Loki conceded.
There was a tense moment of silence.
"What's your price!" She almost yelled at him.
Loki was thinking about it.
"You have to answer one question." He finally said.
Darcy stared at him. Loki was perceptive, very perceptive. He could ask a lot of embarrassing questions and tease her for all eternity with it. He could ask her a question that would show her vulnerability, and she knew he knew what to ask.
She had tried not to think about it. She had tried to avoid it, but it was true. Maybe it was the adrenaline of the war. Maybe it was the lack of male friends -that was a lie, she was friends with the Avengers, she should have plenty of male company-, or maybe just her fucking luck with men.
It had started subtly enough. When she rolled her eyes at someone speaking bullshit, his gaze was invariably on her, like he understood her feelings. At first she had avoided his eyes on those occasions, because she felt like she was betraying the entire humanity allowing herself to feel complicity with a murderer and a liar. Then she just nodded solemnly in his direction, to finally give him a little knowing smirk. They had learned to communicate with each other mostly through signs and orders, but they still had time to banter when they went on missions. He expected her to do her job and he never interfered with something like "you are not doing it right, let me".
The way he wrung his hands when he wanted to be cool and collected. When he had started therapy. When he had accepted her friendship.
She liked him. She liked him very much, and there was no denying it.
Darcy did what she always did: joke and avoid answering right away.
"Dude, I have no secrets. I'm an open book. Do you want to know my favourite colour or something?"
He just smirked, waiting for her answer.
Darcy turned her head and stared through the window. Making a deal with Loki was… dangerous, to put it kindly. But her hair...having her hair back… it was vanity from her, and she knew it.
She sighed. And then she remembered one particular myth about Loki involving hair and Sif.
"Hey! If I am going to have my hair back, I want it back the same colour, length and healthy state than it was before my injury. No weird changes, no tricks. Also, you will change it before I answer the question."
Loki beamed.
"Is that a yes, miss Lewis?"
She crossed her arms.
"Yes, Loki. I will answer one question from you, only one, with the truth."
The way Loki smiled told her that she had stepped in a very dangerous mines field. The perspective made her feel afraid and excited at the same time. The possibility of outsmart the god of Mischief… she had to try.
"Shall I begin now?" He asked, wriggling his spidery fingers and making her laugh with a hint of fear.
Maybe it was not too late to go back.
"I…"
The door burst open and Jane chose that moment to get inside the hospital room with an enthusiastic beam and holding a blue flask with something glowing inside.
"I thought for a minute about your 'flipping the space princess card to strangers' and I did it! I flipped my space princess card inside the healing rooms in Asgard and it worked! It worked in Asgard! Can you believe it?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Darcy asked, a little flattered that for once in her life Jane had followed her advice. Loki was positively glaring at Jane's back but trying to mask it with his usual "calm" expression.
To Darcy's surprise, her confusion only fueled Jane's enthusiasm.
"I have in my hands the solution to your problem, Darcy Lewis!" Jane raised the vial and the liquid in it sparkled with the light coming from outside. Darcy stared at the flask, her eyes boring into it like it could speak and tell her, and slowly realization hit her and she sat straighter in her bed.
"Is that…?"
"It will regrow your hair, yes. It will be fast, painless and easy. You wanna keep it 'til you go home?" Jane's smile had no little amount of triumph in it. Darcy noticed with the corner of her eyes that Loki was making a great effort to not glare at everything..and failing miserably at his task.
A slow smirk took place in her lips.
"Yes, please, Jane. I will save it for tomorrow."
Jane put the flask in her night table and sat down in Darcy's bed, the smile still stuck to her face like glue on paper.
"From what I've heard, Fury is not going to scream too much at you. It is said that one of the prisoners confessed some names and Asgard is rather pleased with the results."
"By Asgard you mean Odin, my second boss and the one who wouldn't let me heal in his super fast healing rooms with all my hair in my head?" Darcy commented looking through the window.
Over the years, she had gone from a slight antipathy for Odin to full on repugnance. The guy seemed a little too careless when he cast out Thor to another planet in the first place, but then it just got worse. He insulted her planet, her friends and her life by explaining things to her as if she were stupid. Jane kinda hated him too. Loki...well, Loki was entirely another case.
"Yeah...he is also my father in law." Jane grimaced. Odin didn't lose a chance to call her insignificant when he thought Thor was not hearing him.
Darcy stared at the ceiling.
"How much can Heimdall see?" She asked after a moment.
"Everything." Jane and Loki answered in unison.
"Yeah but...can he also hear or.."
"He can hear too." Loki confirmed, unable to not throw a resentful look at the ceiling as well.
Darcy hesitated for a moment, but then sent it all to hell.
"Whatever. I want to talk about it and this is a free country -at least in theory. Odin is a douchebag. A complete, utter douchebag. Like, one of the biggest douchebags I have ever met, and I've met some. Hell, I've dated douchebags too. I've dated them for months."
Jane nodded solemnly and then both of them stared at Loki, who was trying to erase the smile out of his face.
"My, my, ladies, I never thought you held such a low opinion of the Allfather."
"That is because you were not supposed to hear it. Welcome to the secret club." Darcy winked.
"God knows sometimes even Thor seems to think the same but never says anything about it." Jane sighed.
"Well I wouldn't say anything to his face tho. Can you imagine this guy staring judgingly and you with his one eye and that damn powerful spear in hand? I won't die at a douchebag's hand, believe me." Darcy kept thinking out loud. "And considering he banished Thor the last time, I would keep my mouth shut in front of him...but that cannot stop me from thinking that he has too much power in his hands and very little criteria on how to use it."
"The same could be said about a lot of people here." Jane shrugged.
Darcy ignored how Loki shifted in his seat.
"Yeah, we have our fair share of assholes in our blue little planet."
They went quiet when a new nurse entered the room.
"Hello, miss Lewis. Let me please check your last analysis results and see if I have to make new ones?" The chirping little voice was sweet and calm, but Darcy's eyes assessed the girl carefully. The uniform she was wearing was an inch too tight, her makeup was perfectly done and her red hair was neatly tied up.
"Who are you?" Darcy asked dryly. War had made her very cautious about people.
"Oh, I am sorry, I am Claire Oliver and I am replacing nurse Smith because her shift ended."
Claire raised a sheet of paper from the end of her bed and checked the results carefully. Meanwhile, Jane went to stand next to Loki.
After a moment, the nurse finished and turned around to leave. Suddenly she stopped at the door and a very visible pink blush crept up her cheeks.
"Um...I'm sorry, mister, but are you Loki?" She asked almost too innocently.
Darcy and Jane gaped. Loki sat up straighter.
"Why?" His green eyes were boring into the honeyed ones of the nurse, and she unconsciously backed a step.
"I…well...you are very famous…Thor's brother, right? Asgard ambassador... There's a lot of...other nurses talking about your...person..."
She seemed to remember where she was and rushed out the door, leaving three confused people behind.
Darcy narrowed her eyes,surprising herself with the sharp pang of jealousy she felt and trying to crush the feeling in the depths of her chest.
Jane was the first to start laughing, until tears streamed down her cheeks. Loki stared at her dissapprovingly.
"Oh my god...I never thought.. Loki, you have your very own fangirls club!"
His face was blank.
"You have made the nurses a hormonal chaos around here." Darcy tried to sound cheerful.
"I...beg your pardon?" He stared at her suspiciously for a moment and she crushed another pang of jealousy, ignoring it in favour of smirking at him.
"Well, our friend Claire was obviously gathering courage to give you her number and play doctor! And you just scared her off with your most menacing glare!" Jane was wiping out tears from her face.
Loki caught up and started smiling himself.
"Miss Claire. Interesting name."
"You know what's more interesting? Watching trees grow." Darcy examined her nails. "Throwing myself out a window. Watching two thousand Netflix documentaries about rocks. Catching a cold. Almost everything is more interesting than hearing you talk about Claire."
"Jealous, Darcy?" Loki's voice was smooth as silk and just as slippery.
"Of course I am." She rolled her eyes. "You don't get to bang nurses while I am lying here bald as a newborn! All you attention must be focused in me, and yours as well Jane. No texting Thor unless one of the twins swallows a dagger or something."
"Okay, no fighting today! First of all, Darcy, you are not going to be bald forever and Loki will not -hopefully- 'bang' a nurse inside this place," Loki raised a suggestive eyebrow and Jane ignored it. "and secondly my children will not swallow daggers because I made Thor hide them out of their reach while I am not there." Jane checked her clock. "Fury is gonna be here in five minutes and I'm guessing he's going to want coffee so I am going to bring some right now. Behave!"
Jane left the room again.
Darcy and Loki stared at each other, the first with narrowed eyes and the second with a smug look in his face.
"Our deal is cancelled, buddy." She pointed at him. "Cancelled and thank God for it. You're a little shit!"
Loki laughed.
"Very well, Darcy. Cancelled. If I were you I would take care that nothing happened to that flask. I would hate for you to come back at me asking for a new deal."
"Why? You love deals." Darcy kept an eye on the flask. She knew Loki could 'accidentally' make it fall.
Loki stood up and walked to the edge of her bed. With a sly smirk on his lips, he lowered his face until it was at her level. Darcy fixed her eyes on his, determined to not let his proximity affect him. He smelled like leather and soap.
"Because, darling" the intensity of his voice surprised her and suddenly Darcy understood why people called him silvertongue. "A simple answer to a question wouldn't be the price to pay for your hair growing again."
Just for a split second, his eyes lowered to Darcy's full, semi-open lips. She was looking at him, entranced by his proximity, a sudden flash of intense desire shining on her blue orbes and burning in the center of her body. She knew he knew, and the thought made her lick her lips nervously. Loki was visibly affected by that gesture...and Darcy realized their relationship had changed yet again.
Fury went home that night with a strange feeling. He had found Lewis and Laufeyson immersed in a deep silence, the girl scrolling in her phone and he reading a book written in absolute gibberish. Fury had screamed at them for moments, inserting sarcastic remarks from time to time, and while the two of them had nodded and asked apologies and understood every single point he had, he wasn't sure if they had heard him at all.
"Motherfuckin' spies and their motherfuckin' ways of disobeying orders…" He muttered, and went to bed.