Chapter 16

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Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews and comments, thetamedrose I appreciate your kind words. I almost finished this chapter when some personal issues came up that took me away from it for a while. But I love these two too much to leave them hanging, so we're back on. Hope you enjoy~

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The minute Loki's eyes opened the next morning, he sat up straight and studied the glass walls around him.

Everything looked the same.

He knew every single inch of his cell and he reviewed every tiny detail meticulously, yet nothing was out of place. He saw no cracks, no scrapes or breaks in the glass. No change in the blinking lights and alarms that kept him sealed away. Everything about his prison was the same as it had always been. The seals were as strong as they'd been the day he'd been forced inside.

But he'd used magic.

Letting his eyes fall shut, he concentrated as hard as he could, desperately seeking the tiny flicker of magic he'd felt inside of himself. Awake, he could not sense anything. It was as though he'd imagined it.

The fearful thought stemmed the hope that had been growing. Perhaps their wards were not completely impenetrable, but he hardly had enough power for anything at all.

And time kept ticking by, Thanos growing ever closer.

He had less than a week before Fury would ask him to plead his case. Running the possibilities through his mind, he tried to consider how they might help him defeat Thanos. Nothing came to mind. None of them possessed magic, and even with all their power and Avengers, they'd nearly been defeated by Loki himself.

Facing Thanos directly would be ten times worse.

But if he convinced them he would help and they returned his magic to him, could they stand a chance? Sickening as the thought was, if they combined their strengths with his magic, could they actually succeed?

The possibility was one he could not ignore. Falling into the darkness had taught him never to let go again. If he was dying this time, it would not be without a fight.

He would not let Thanos cut him down in sleep. The need for revenge bubbled up, fueling his hope. If he stood any chance at all…. Could he afford not to try?

Perhaps that was partly what fascinated him about Darcy. Even with the odds stacked against her, he knew she would fight to her last breath for what she believed in.

Could he afford to do the same?

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There was a faint chill in the air when Darcy woke from sleep. Sitting up, it took her a moment to realize she was in her temporary quarters at the SHIELD base.

She was still not used to the unfamiliar surroundings. She missed her own bed, her own shower, and the little kitchen space with her wonderful coffee maker.

Of course, they had great coffee here. They had great everything here, but it wasn't the same. It wasn't hers.

Still, after the last few nights a part of her was very glad she was under the same roof as Loki. Of all the places to be she couldn't imagine anywhere safer than the SHIELD compound.

What would have happened if the horrible shadow had returned? Could she die in real life if it killed her in her dreams? A chill ran through her. She definitely did not plan on finding out.

She had so many more questions for him, but she had the distinct feeling he'd be as difficult about answering them as he'd always been. And the world he'd taken her to. It had been odd, with water so iridescent it had glittered like a rainbow, and jagged, twisted trees.

Unable to fight off the urge to see him and see if she could coax the tiniest answer out of him, she dressed in a hurry and headed into her living room to the front door.

Just as she slid open the door with her key, Fury stepped in front of her and backed her into her room.

"Good morning."

Startled, she could do nothing but stand and stare at him as he made his way into the room and turned to face her. All of a sudden her living space felt half its size, with the power of his presence filling every corner of it.

"Morning."

Whatever had brought him to her room couldn't be good. He was far too busy all the time; he didn't have the time to stop by for house calls. Not unless it was something important. Something bad.

"How are you finding things here?" He gestured to the room around him.

Off kilter, she tried to gather her thoughts while the wheels were turning in her brain trying to figure out why he was here. Had she made a mistake? Was there something she'd missed?

"It's great. Nice. Thanks."

"Good to hear."

He crossed over to the plush sofa, taking a seat while his eye never left hers. How was he doing that? Making her feel completely powerless simply by looking at her? Sometimes she wondered if he had some kind of incredible power none of them knew about. She didn't dare follow that thought.

"I spoke with Jane and Thor early this morning. It seems a meteor shower interrupted their work."

"Oh."

At times like this, she really wished she understood more of the technical side of Jane's job. Then again, maybe not.

"Actually, more than a meteor shower. We have not identified it quite yet, but we know enough to be wary."

"Wary?"

"Anomalies that shouldn't exist. Something was interrupting their reconstruction of the bifrost. They're staying out longer working on figuring it out, but until then, I've put this base on alert and sent a discreet security team out to back them up."

"Alert? Why?"

"We have reason to believe it may be linked to the threat Tony Stark came across in New York City. Whatever was beyond the portal he entered had the same signature as the one Thor and Jane found."

A chill crept into her bones. Without thinking, her hand wrapped around the fading burn on her forearm. She didn't know much about what had happened in New York City, but she'd been around Tony enough to know. He'd never admit it, but whatever it had been had really freaked him out. According to Pepper, he was still struggling with the nightmares.

Were his nightmares anything like hers?

Suddenly she needed to see Loki more than ever.

"The base is on full lockdown, anyone who is not on assignment will stay until further notice. No outside contact unless absolutely necessary, and if so it all gets run by comm staff first before anything is sent out. I haven't broken the news to the others yet, but I wanted to make you aware."

"Why me? Why not just send a memo out to everyone?" Her sinking feeling was getting worse. There had to be more coming and she wasn't going to like it.

"If it's what we think it is, we'll need a hell of a lot of luck and firepower on our side. I wanted you aware because you're part of the team. We'll need every resource we have. We need to keep you safe. We may need your help."

"How am I supposed to help?"

He stood and stepped over to her, evidently concluding the conversation.

"We each have our strengths. We might need yours when we least expect it."

"My strength? This is getting weird…"

"Stay inside. And no contacting anyone, even Jane, unless authorized."

"Okay."

With a final backward glance he stepped out of the room, leaving her standing with the puzzled glance frozen on her face. When the door shut behind him she let out the breath she'd been holding.

What was going on with that?

As if things hadn't been weird enough before he'd walked in with his news.

Then it hit her. What if it wasn't a coincidence? What if it wasn't by chance that at the same time she had some threatening dream of a monster torturing Loki, some mysterious threat appeared in outer space?

It was too eerie not to be connected somehow. And it was about time she had some of her questions answered.

Finally leaving the room, she hurried as quickly as possible down the hall while trying to look like she was out for a casual stroll. She barely passed by a couple people with a brief greeting before finding her way down to the familiar hallway and out onto the concrete landing overlooking the dark-haired god.

"Darcy."

She wasn't even surprised any more when his voice made her feel more at ease. He was impressive and intimidating, but somehow being around him made all her worries seem the slightest bit less threatening. As though even her fears wouldn't dare intrude when he was near.

She steeled herself for her upcoming question.

"I'm trying my hardest to trust you but I need to know something."

"What is it?" He hadn't snapped at her, so she took a deep breath and continued.

"Those dreams, somehow, they're real aren't they?"

He looked ready to deny her an answer, but she wouldn't let him interrupt.

"I don't mean real, I mean obviously they're dreams, and it's not a real place. But somehow, what's happening in them, I remember them not like a dream but a memory. And the way they affected me… that threat is real. Whatever it is. Isn't it?"

He frowned at her before taking a step back, expression unreadable.

"It is."

Okay, so maybe she had a good reason to be freaked out.

"This no questions thing is really killing me." Literally. The word hovered unspoken in her mind. She couldn't handle the confusion and frustration, but to know on top of it all that her fear was legitimate and that she or someone she cared about might get hurt?

She felt the faint stirrings of a panic attack, something she hadn't experienced since she'd been a child and gotten lost in the park. She began pacing, back and forth across the metal balcony, shoes clanging and breaking up the silence. Her only armor against this invisible threat was pathetically weak and the one person she had on her side was the frustratingly tight lipped Asgardian below.

She felt so screwed.

"Darcy, what is it?"

He sensed something different about her. Which wasn't hard really. Her heart felt like it would jump out of her chest at any second.

"Okay, I'm sitting down." Her palms felt sweaty, her brow flushing. Colors around her felt brighter, sharper. She was breathing too fast. Calm it down. "No, standing up."

She tried to regulate her breathing, forcing deep, slow breaths. "I don't think I can do this."

"Do what? What is it Darcy?"

She kept pacing, fighting inside of herself to regain control over the fear that was threatening to overwhelm her.

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The minute she'd stepped into the room with him, he could have sworn he'd felt the faintest flicker of magic inside himself. He tried to focus on it, capture it in his mind but it slipped away before he could touch it.

Focusing instead on her, he immediately realized something was wrong.

Her vivacious energy was dimmed by a look not unlike the fear he'd seen in her before. A look that didn't suit her, and set off alarms in his mind.

When she began pacing and talking to herself, he knew something had to be done. Only he could do nothing at all.

"Darcy. What are you trying to do?"

She was mumbling to herself, oblivious to him and his concern as she seemed to be struggling with something in her mind. She wrung her fingers together, her teeth worrying her lower lip and turning it a darker shade of red. Not that he noticed.

"Darcy!" He raised his voice until finally she looked back down at him. The panic there made his concern ratchet up a notch. He wanted to wipe it all away and return her to the positive, determined woman who'd first set foot in this room.

He didn't want to see her overtaken by her fears, because he'd foolishly begun to grow attached in the weeks she'd been visiting him.

He cared for her.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt concern like this for anyone. It was disconcerting.

What had she done to him?

He wanted to know if she smelled like vanilla in real life as she had in the dream. He wanted to know how she filled her time away from this base. He wanted to know her every thought. It was ridiculous. Maddening. He tamped the reckless thoughts down before they could do any damage.

"I feel sick."

She started pacing again, dark eyes flickering around the room as he could see the thoughts tumbling through her brain too quickly. She rubbed at the wound on her arm. Again, he felt the faintest flicker of magic.

Unable to let the opportunity pass, he grasped onto it with his mind. He thought of pushing her, forcing her to stand still so she would stop her maddening pacing. The thought coalesced in his mind, the magic like a faint light slowly growing in brightness until all at once it came together.

She stumbled back onto the bench in shock.

One glance up at her confirmed he'd been the cause.

He'd pushed her down.

His magic was returning. Frowning, he fought back the freedom and excitement he felt at the familiar feel of magic running through him, not wanting to give himself away. The utter feeling of helplessness was lessening slightly.

"What was that?"

Now her attention was squarely fixed on him, and she looked ruffled and angry.

"Did you do that? How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

Her eyes narrowed as anger flushed her cheeks. "You know what. It felt like you pushed me. Did you just use magic on me?"

He motioned around his cage, fighting off the urge to smile at her frustration. He'd caused that, with the magic that was even now glowing ever brighter inside him. He wanted to test its limits, but with so many eyes on him it was too risky. "And how could I do that from inside here?"

He hadn't lied. For some reason, she made him want to avoid it.

"How am I supposed to know? I have no clue how magic works."

"You're frustrated. Panicked. Perhaps you stumbled."

She glared at him. "I don't even know why I bother coming."

"When you have so many more exciting things to be doing instead?"

That hit a nerve. Her blue glare turned icy. "How many times are you going to push me away? You know sometimes I really think I shouldn't come back. And yet something keeps forcing me to come back. Our dreams, this threat, I just can't seem to get away from you, no matter how hard I try." The last was said with an acidic bite.

He wanted to regret it, but he couldn't. Something about Darcy came alive when she was angry, her passion coming to the surface of her emotions. Her cheeks flushed, her eyes burned brighter, and her chest…. He did not notice anything at all about her chest. Certainly not the way her breaths grew deeper, and beautifully accentuated her generous curves.

He had far more important concerns than a human woman, of all things. Somehow he kept forgetting that of late.

"And now, I'm stuck here. Things just keep getting better and better."

"Stuck here?"

"Yes. Stuck. Apparently your New York friends are on their way for a visit, or something like that, and we're all stuck here together."

A shock travelled down his spine at the news. Thanos, or his minions, were nearing. So close SHIELD was able to pick them up. He was running out of time. Struggling, he pulled at the sliver of magic he'd felt but it slipped away from him. He couldn't do anything. Again, black rage at his powerlessness burned inside him.

"Does this… this dream thing…. Does it have anything to do with that?"

Her voice was quiet and she wasn't able to mask the fear in her question, already expecting the answer.

He could do nothing but nod.

Collapsing on her metal bench, her face slipped out of view. He clenched his fists, fighting the urge to throw something, to destroy something. His mind grasped and flailed, trying to reach the sliver of magic he'd used earlier but it had disappeared.

The urge to kill something grew stronger, fueled by his rage. He threw a punch at the glass, accomplishing nothing but bruising his knuckles and making him weaker.

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Darcy started when she heard the loud thud of his fist against the glass. He didn't seem happy by the news.

So then, why had he been fighting against them in New York? What exactly was happening? And why was he being tortured every night?

Her panic calmed as her mind locked onto the puzzle of their situation. She needed to make sense of it. She stood back up and looked down at him, his vivid green eyes meeting hers.

"Is this what you want? Whatever's happening? Whatever's coming now?"

And before he could mask it, before he returned his face to his unreadable, stoic expression, she saw it. She gripped the railing as thoughts began to piece themselves together.

He didn't want this.

Whoever it was he'd been fighting with, or for, he clearly no longer was now. Whatever had happened in New York, the creatures they'd been fighting were not his allies.

Perhaps they were even connected to whoever was torturing him.

"Why wouldn't I?"

His reply was light and mocking, but she still saw the fire in him. He wanted to fight this as much as she did. Which made whatever the reason was that he kept refusing to join them seem even more ridiculous.

And which made the very last of her walls against him crumble.

He had done horrible things in the past and he'd never exactly win 'person of the year', but there was so much more to all this than what she knew and all of SHIELD assumed. He had asked her to come visit him when he'd been lonely, he had worried when she'd been hurt. He was a good man, underneath everything else that drove her crazy.

He might never rally to SHIELD's cause, but they were on the same side. She only needed to convince him of it, before it was too late for all of them.