Darcy had always had a way with words. She was quick-witted, always on the ball with a quip or a joke. She took a great deal of pride in that fact. But on this occasion, confronted with the man on the other side of the golden forcefield, she found herself at loss for words.
"You!" she spat, jabbing her finger in his direction. "You're you!"
Loki clicked his tongue. "It never ceases to amaze me how articulate you humans are," he said, tilting his head to the side. "Speaking of which, how did a human manage to get past the Allfather's guards?"
"Business," Darcy said, backing away and crossing her arms. "None of yours." She turned around in a complete circle but did not see any sign of a door. "Heimdall, this isn't what I had in mind when I said I wanted to come back to Asgard," she muttered. She picked a direction and started walking.
Loki kept pace with her until he reached the limit of his cell. "You are going in the wrong direction," he called as she walked away. She ground to a stop, gritted her teeth, and turned around.
"You don't know where I'm going," she yelled back at him.
"Deeper into the dungeons, apparently," Loki replied with a smirk.
Darcy blushed in embarrassment and anger, but lifted her chin and stalked back past his cell in the other direction.
"That is the wrong direction as well," he said as she crossed in front of him. "At least, if you are trying to leave the dungeons."
She stopped dead in her tracks, refusing to look over at him. "You're lying," she said.
"It is probable," he admitted. He clasped his hands behind his back. "I can tell you how to get back to the surface."
Darcy slowly turned to face him. "And why would you do that?" she asked sarcastically. "Out of the goodness of your heart?"
"I am willing to make a trade," Loki offered, rocking back onto his heels. "Knowledge for knowledge."
"No thanks," Darcy said, turning her back on him. "I can find my own way out of here."
"Of course!" Loki said. "After all, it isn't as if the dungeons stretch on for miles under the city, and are designed as a labyrinth to entrap prisoners should they attempt to escape. You should have no trouble finding your way out. Best of luck!"
Darcy exhaled sharply through her nose. He was lying, she told herself. That's what Loki did. He lied. She shook her head and started walking.
And kept walking.
And walked some more.
And walked a little bit further.
"Son of a bitch," she said, looking around. She'd walked in a straight line for what seemed like hours, ignoring the perpendicular halls, hoping that she would eventually reach something that resembled an exit sign, to no avail. "Seriously?" She turned right and trudged down the corridor, glancing into each cell she passed without paying much attention until she reached a familiar one.
"You have got to be kidding me," Darcy said, glaring up at Loki again. He rose to his feet from where he was sitting on a narrow couch and crossed over towards her.
"I did give you fair warning," he said. "Are you ready to bargain with me?"
"I don't want anything from you," Darcy snarled, and turned her back on him. Her legs were tired and her feet ached from walking on the hard, unyielding stone in inadequate shoes. She didn't particularly feel like walking anymore, so she lowered herself to the ground and sat cross-legged, elbows propped on her knees. She checked her watch. She'd been in the dungeons for just over four hours. That was a long time to sleep in a chair in a hospital room. She was probably going to wake up any minute now.
"I am not certain, but I do not think you are going to find a way out of the dungeons by sitting there," Loki said from behind her.
"I don't have to find a way out," she growled at him without turning around. "I just have to wait. Shut up."
"If you know who I am, then you know that is not likely."
Darcy sighed, and then scooted herself around. "I know you're a liar and a coward, and that you murdered thousands of people so you could throw a temper tantrum about how daddy didn't love you as much as Thor," she spat at him.
He didn't look bothered by her accusations. "If that is what you think, then you don't know much at all, I'm afraid," he replied, beginning to pace along the edge of his cell. "Tell me, how does a human come to be here, in Asgard, with that kind of knowledge?"
"Like I'm going to tell you anything," Darcy said. "You've tried to kill me twice already. I'm not interested in having a conversation with you."
"I assure you it was nothing personal," Loki told her. "I am sure you were simply inconveniently located."
Darcy opened her mouth to bite out a scathing reply and stopped herself. She was going about this all wrong. She did not have to sit there and let him taunt her. She took a deep breath to center herself, called up her power, and trained all of her focus on him.
The pain drove the breath right out of her body. She gasped, clutching at her ribs as they tried to expand, but couldn't. It was as if her whole body was an open wound, an exposed nerve, sending wave after wave of agony through her brain. Her vision whited out and she curled up on the hard, cold ground, cradling her head and trying to scream through clenched teeth.
A hand grabbed her shoulder and she jerked away. For a split second she was falling, and then she hit the ground, disoriented. She cast around, unsure of where she was or what was happening. Her body ached, every muscle sore as if they had spent hours clenched and rigid. Her head pounded and her jaw felt locked in place.
"Darcy, are you okay?" Jane asked, crouching next to her.
It took Darcy a moment to work her jaw loose. "Yeah," she said hoarsely. She was in the medical wing of the Triskelion, in Erik's room. Loki and the Asgardian dungeons were light years away. "Nightmare," she grunted, hauling herself off the floor.
"Must have been a hell of a one," Jane said, helping her up. "You were shaking all over."
"'M fine," Darcy muttered. She rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?"
"Almost midnight," Jane said. "Agent Sitwell is kicking us out of here in five minutes. He said they have an apartment ready for us. We should probably get some sleep."
The thought of going back to the dungeons drove Darcy into full wakefulness. "I'm good," she said, blinking her eyes wide. "I'm great. Sleep? We don't need sleep. Don't we have work to do? Let's do science."
Jane frowned at Darcy. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Darcy waved her off. "I'm fine. I slept on the flight here. Besides, time difference. It's in morning back in Norway."
Jane eyed her in disbelief. "Darce, we were in Norway for three days."
"Plenty of time to get adjusted," Darcy said, trying (and failing) to sound like her normal, perky self. She looked over at Erik, who was still sleeping. "How's he doing?" she asked, changing the subject.
"He woke up a few times but he's still confused. Whatever Loki did to him really messed him up," Jane said sadly.
A cold rage pooled at the bottom of Darcy's stomach as she pictured Loki's unrepentant smirk. She had never wanted to hurt another person before, never tried to see if she could, but now she wondered if there was anything in her abilities that would let her find a way to punish Loki for what he had done.
Jane put her hand on Darcy's arm. "Hey, it's gonna be okay," she assured the younger woman. "Erik is strong and insanely stubborn. He's not gonna let some crazy megalomaniac alien keep him down for long."
"Yeah," Darcy said softly. She looked over at Jane. "We should get back to our apartment. Get settled in."
A SHIELD car took them to their apartment, which was a three bedroom flat on the top floor of a renovated building from the nineteen twenties in uptown. It was only a short ride on the Metro to the Triskelion, and it was fully furnished in a quaint, inviting style.
"I'm picturing SHIELD agents binge-watching HGTV and taking notes," Darcy said, dropping her bags in the living room. She went to the kitchen and opened the pantry. "Nice," she murmured to herself, seeing that it was fully stocked. She opened the fridge next. "Nicer," she observed, seeing that it was similarly fully stocked. She poked around for a couple of seconds before she caught sight of a Kosher label. She blinked a couple of times. "Huh," she said.
"Jane!" she called. "You hungry?" There was no reply so Darcy went looking for her friend, only to find Jane curled up on top of the bed in one of the bedrooms, snoring faintly. "Okay then," she said softly, closing the door.
Darcy showered, unpacked, prepped two handmade pizzas and put them in the freezer for later before she admitted to herself that she was stalling. Even with her nap at the Triskelion she was still exhausted and she needed to sleep if she was going to keep up with Jane during her manic science phase that was sure to be coming soon. So she trudged back to the bedroom she'd claimed for herself and crawled under the covers. She tossed and turned for a couple of hours before sleep finally caught her off-guard.
She opened her eyes and looked around. "Shit," she said succinctly, wrapping her arms around herself.
"Vulgar words often reveal a vulgar mind," Loki commented, putting his book aside and rising to his feet. "To be honest, I am surprised you returned."
"Trust me, it wasn't my first choice," Darcy snapped back. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Are you recovered?" he asked, his voice cordial. "You appeared to be in pain when you departed last."
"Why the hell would you care?" Darcy demanded, scowling at him. "You'd probably sooner kill me."
Loki held up his hands in a placating gesture. "As I told you before, I hold no personal malice towards you. If my actions have put you in harm's way, you have my apologies."
Darcy eyed him suspiciously. "Why are you being nice all the sudden? What do you want?"
"Am I not bound by geis to offer hospitality to those under my roof?" Loki replied. He stretched his arms out to his sides. "And seeing as how this is to be my home for the rest of my days…" he lowered his arms and clasped his hands behind his back.
Darcy's suspicion did not abate. "And this has nothing to do with the fact that you can catch more flies with honey," she said dryly.
"Why would anyone want to catch flies?" Loki asked with a faint smirk, head tilting.
Darcy jabbed a finger at him. "You don't fool me. I just spent the day sitting next to my friend, who you put in the hospital. He's probably never going to be the same again, and it's your fault."
"Shall I send flowers?" Loki asked. "That is what you mortals do, is it not?"
Darcy ground her teeth together, that cold rage bubbling up into her chest. "Do not mock me," she said icily. She poured all her anger and her power into her words. "Do not presume to make light of the pain you have caused. If you do not have the decency to be repentant, then at least have the intelligence to guard your words in front of someone who could wipe you from existence."
Loki took a full step backwards from the force of her words. Darcy didn't know if she could actually do what she threatened, but she was really willing to try. He studied her closely, a shrewd expression on his face.
"So," Loki said, still staring at her. "Not a human. What are you, little girl?"
"Knowledge is power, buddy, and you're not getting any from me," Darcy snapped.
"Oh but you have already given me so much," Loki said, starting to pace. "Female, nubile, in her prime of life, comes and goes as she pleases. And that is interesting as well. You are a dream-walker, are you not?"
Darcy scowled, trying to figure out she always seemed to manage to come out worse for wear in her conversations with him. "No," she said bluntly. "I'm not talking to you anymore."
Loki gestured theatrically. "Well, you are welcome to leave at any time," he said mockingly.
Darcy glared at him for a moment before groaning. She knew something that would definitely wake her up and take her away from this place, but it wasn't going to be pleasant. She gritted her teeth, called up her power, and tried to read Loki.
It was like sandpaper over an exposed nerve, like pouring acid over an open wound. Her brain felt like it was melting with the pain. Her vision whited out and there was a high-pitched ringing in her ears, but she could just hear an otherworldly voice hissing words at her.
"You will wish for something as sweet as pain."
Darcy woke up in her new bedroom in DC, curled up into a ball so tightly her muscles were aching from the strain. It took her several minutes to convince her muscles to relax, focusing on them one by one until she finally managed to uncurl. Her pajamas were drenched in sweat and her breathing was ragged as she lay on the bed, exhausted. She reached up and pressed her hand against her face.
The first time she'd read Loki, she thought he'd purposefully inflicted the pain, or it was some kind of psychic feedback from him blocking her. But this time, it had been different. This time, she'd realized the pain had come from inside Loki.
Darcy abruptly sat up as realization hit her with the force of a mack truck. Loki was constantly in that much pain. How was he able to stand, much less string together enough words for a snarky remark? And where was the pain coming from? It wasn't physical pain, of that much she was certain. The pain, whatever its origin, was definitely psychic. Someone was inflicting pain on Loki, and she wanted to know who. And why.
Darcy twisted to look at the clock sitting on the bedside table. She still had three hours until Jane would probably wake up and start her morning forage for caffeine. Of course, Darcy was wired and completely wide awake. She ground her teeth together. She couldn't believe she was actually considering doing this for Loki, of all people. She was fairly certain he would never be grateful enough to make it worth it.
As she suspected, the swanky apartment SHIELD had set up for them had a fully-stocked liquor bar. Darcy, being a poor college student, prefered her alcohol of the "cheap and plentiful" variety, and therefore had no appreciation for the bottles in the cabinets under the wet bar. But she found one she could stand the taste of and started chugging.
And because Darcy was fond of cheap and plentiful alcohol, it took over half the bottle before she started getting sleepy. It was somewhere after the "can't walk straight" stage, but thankfully before the "the room is spinning" stage. Darcy just really wanted to lay down and close her eyes and not contemplate the headache she was going to have in the morning. She was still cogent enough to put the bottle away and get a glass of water before collapsing on the couch.
She woke up in Asgard, not, to her intense relief, in the dungeons. She was on a terrace connected to the library, stretched out on one of the chaise lounges Asgardian interior designers seemed fond of. Darcy quickly jumped to her feet and had to abruptly sit back down again.
"Drunk dream-walking," she muttered to herself. "Awesome." She got her feet again, much slower this time, and set off for the potted tree she'd hidden her Asgardian robe behind. Then she went in search of Lady Frigga. Darcy had only had a handful of encounters with Lady Frigga since their first meeting, but she found that the noblewoman always seemed to be exactly where Darcy needed her. So, par for the course, it didn't take long for Darcy to find her.
"I need a book on psychic connections," Darcy blurted as soon as she saw the blonde Asgardian.
Lady Frigga turned away from the woman she'd been speaking to and looked Darcy up and down. "You look unwell, child," she observed kindly. "Have you taken ill?"
Darcy tried to shake her head but stopped when she lost her balance. "I'm drunk," she explained.
Lady Frigga dismissed the other woman with a wave and came to stand in front of Darcy. "Why did you come here in this condition, Darcy Lewis?"
"Had to get to sleep somehow," Darcy said, proud of the fact she did not slur her words. She tapped the side of her forehead. "Trouble sleeping sometimes. You know how it is."
Lady Frigga reached out and gently took Darcy's arm. "Come with me, child."
"But I need a book!" Darcy protested as Lady Frigga led her out of the library.
"I will find you the book you need," Lady Frigga promised. "But first let us see to your more pressing needs." She tucked Darcy's hand into the crook of her elbow and guided her through the passageways of the city.
"Are we going to the palace?" Darcy asked, her eyes wide as she stared around her unfamiliar surroundings. "I've never been to the palace before."
"Yes, we are going to the palace," Lady Frigga told her.
Darcy continued to ogle the scenery as they walked for what seemed like a terribly long time first through the city, and then through the palace, until they reached a cozy sitting room with a fantastic view of what remained of the Bifrost. Lady Frigga helped Darcy sit down on a couch and then vanished, leaving Darcy stroking a fur blanket happily.
"Here," Lady Frigga said, reappearing. She placed a steaming cup in Darcy's hands. "Drink this."
Darcy peered into the cup curiously. The liquid was pale cream in color, frothy with flecks of brown on top. She inhaled deeply. The aroma was pleasant and spicy, but unfamiliar. She took a cautious first sip. It was not entirely unlike chai tea, though there was a definite reminiscence of chocolate, and a faint bitterness that reminded her of coffee. Whatever it was, it cleared her head after only a few sips.
"This is amazing," Darcy said, huddling over the cup. "What is it?"
"It's called kava," Lady Frigga told her. "It's quite popular among those who have celebrated their victories with a little too much enthusiasm."
"It's delicious," Darcy said. "And thank you."
"In your state, it's not likely that any studying you did would do you much good," Lady Frigga said with a smile.
Darcy grimaced. "Eh, well, it was that or sedatives, and I'm not a fan of drugging myself silly."
Lady Frigga sat on the couch next to Darcy and folded her hands. "You asked me about psychic connections," she said. "Might I ask why?"
Darcy chose her next words carefully. Given Loki's current position, it was not likely Lady Frigga would willingly help her if Darcy told her the whole truth. "If there was someone, for example, who had a psychic connection that was causing them pain, would there be anything, hypothetically, that you could do about it?" Darcy asked, still gripping her cup tightly to her chest.
"Well, that depends on the connection, and the people who are a part of it," Lady Frigga said, tilting her head.
Darcy mulled that over for a few minutes. "What if it wasn't...consensual?" she asked slowly.
Lady Frigga gave her an unreadable look. "It could, in theory, be severed, given the victimized party desired it strongly enough, and the one who severed it had greater power than the one who forged it."
"Oh," Darcy said softly, and went back to staring into her cup. "How would you do that? Sever it?"
"It would not be easy," Lady Frigga warned her. "But if you truly wish to know, I will teach you."
Darcy's eyes jumped up to Lady Frigga's face. "You know how to do it?" she asked curiously.
"I do have a passable knowledge of what your people call magic," Lady Frigga replied, amused. "But what you wish to do will take a great deal of strength, of both will and power."
Darcy sighed and took a long drink of the kava before setting it aside. Again she wondered why she was willing to do this for Loki, of all people. "Yeah, okay," she said, resigned. "Let's do this."
XxxXxxX
It took a week of nightly lessons before Lady Frigga declared Darcy ready. The lessons were emotionally and mentally exhausting, which meant that Darcy woke up every morning more tired than she'd gone to sleep, and usually ended up dozing in the lab while Jane worked. The rest of the time she stayed hopped up on caffeine just in order to stay awake.
While Jane was not happy to be working directly for SHIELD, she was intensely interested in the data SHIELD provided her from both portals caused by the Tesseract. She would have worked around the clock on analyzing the data if Darcy hadn't dragged her away to eat, sleep, and visit Erik.
Erik was released from the medical wing after three days, but was kept in the Triskelion for observation. They tried to bring him into Jane's lab, but he'd had a flashback so bad they'd had to sedate him. Darcy checked in on him several times a day, in between his therapy appointments. It was as she was leaving from escorting him to his latest one that she ran into Natasha again.
Natasha was walking with a sandy-haired man in a SHIELD sweatshirt and torn jeans, but she slowed down and waved at Darcy from down the hall. As Darcy approached them, Natasha smiled in greeting.
"It's Darcy, right?" Natasha asked.
"Yup, that's me," Darcy replied. She took a second look at Natasha's companion. "Yo, Barton. Long time no see."
The male agent bobbed his head and smiled faintly. "Lewis. Keeping out of trouble?"
"Me? Never!" Darcy replied.
Natasha looked between them. "You two know each other?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, we met in New Mexico," Darcy told her. "SHIELD came in and confiscated all of Jane's equipment, and Katniss here helped me get my iPod back. I still owe you for that one."
"You bought drinks during the clean up, remember?" Barton asked. "I'd call us even."
Darcy flapped a hand dismissively. "Alcohol is temporary. Music is forever. I still need to make up for it."
"What are you doing here?" Barton asked. He shoved his hands in his pockets and hunched his shoulders. "Heard you were in Norway."
"Pretty sure they just sent us there to get us out of the way," Darcy said dryly. "Jane's analyzing data from the portals in New York."
Barton nodded, his eyes sliding away from hers and staring off into the distance. Darcy frowned. She recognized that look. It was the same one Erik got if he was left by himself for too long. She opened her mouth to say something but Natasha interrupted.
"Here, before I forget." She handed Darcy a card.
Darcy looked down at it. It was trimmed in black and had Agent Coulson's name printed at the top, along with an address and a time. "Oh," she said, her mood darkening. "Thanks." She sighed deeply.
"How's Dr Selvig?" Natasha asked gently.
"He's getting better," Darcy said, pocketing the card. "It's not gonna be easy, though." She sighed through her teeth. "I'd punch Loki right in the nose if I could," she said darkly. It wasn't a lie, despite how Darcy had spent her last seven evenings. The only thing keeping her from doing so was the golden barrier between them whenever she visited the dungeons.
"You don't have to worry about Loki anymore," Natasha said firmly, but she was looking at Barton as she spoke.
Darcy snorted. Not likely, she thought. She shrugged. "I gotta get back to Jane. If she doesn't have constant supervision, she might accidentally create an Einstein-Rosen Bridge to other side of the universe." She offered her knuckles to Barton. "Keep it real, Legolas."
He obliged her with a fist bump. "Watch your back, Lewis," he replied. Darcy frowned at him again as he and Natasha left. Natasha had mentioned another patient in Erik's wing… She shuddered and shook her head. If Barton had been another one of Loki's victims…
"Damn it," she whispered to herself. "What the hell are you thinking, Darcy?" She headed back to Jane's lab, wondering for the hundredth time why she was even considering helping Loki.
XxxXxxX
It took Darcy five tries and two nights to dream-walk into the Asgardian dungeons. She'd have thought she would be better at it after ten years of practice, but she still ended up in places she didn't want to be more often than not. As soon as she realized she was in the dungeons, she made a beeline for Loki's now-familiar cell.
"I can't believe I'm actually going to do this," she growled at him, "But I'm going to fix you."
He laughed humorlessly. "I am afraid it will take more than wishful thinking to achieve that, mortal girl."
"You and I both know I've got more than wishful thinking going for me," Darcy snapped.
Loki didn't immediately reply. He studied her for a long moment. "Perhaps I do not desire to be 'fixed'," he said at length.
"Bullshit," Darcy said flatly. "I know how much pain you're in. I'm gonna take it away."
Loki frowned at her. It was the first time she'd seen anything less than smug confidence on his face. He stepped forward until he stood right before the barrier, the forcefield thickening in response to his proximity. "And why would you do that?" he asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Because I'm an idiot, apparently," Darcy said dryly. She crossed her arms defensively. "Now do you want me to help you, or do you want to suffer for the rest of your life?"
Loki continued to stare at her warily. "Why should I trust you?"
"I'm not the one who lied to his family and friends and tried to destroy two separate planets," Darcy pointed out. "And I don't see anyone else lining up to help you out."
He stepped away from the wall of his cage and began to pace back and forth, never taking his eyes off her. "You are not truly mortal, are you?" he asked. "It is impossible, a being with your powers."
Darcy shook her head. "Nuh-uh. That topic is off limits. You want my help, yes or no? One time offer."
Loki spread his hands to his sides. "What can I say? I am at your mercy."
Darcy lowered her arms. "Okay. This isn't gonna be easy, or pleasant, for either of us. Just try not to struggle, okay?" Without giving him a chance to respond, Darcy called up her power and focused on Loki. She didn't try to read him this time. She just lightly skimmed his mind like Frigga had showed her, trying to find the connection that was causing him pain.
She gagged when she found it. It felt like a festering sore, smelling and tasting of infection. It had once been deep and strong, but even weak and faded it would take nearly all of Darcy's strength to sever it.
Darcy took a deep breath and then reached into Loki's mind. She still did not attempt to read him, only pinpointing the memories directly related to the psychic bond. They burned hot and painful, literally and figuratively.
Darcy felt herself falling into the void, swallowed by the dying Bifrost, and landing, shattered and broken, on the far side of the universe. She saw the Other and his master, the mad Titan. She felt the fire and it was an unbearable pain for her, a son of the ice world. She felt them in her mind and in her dreams. She could not even sleep without their whispers in her head.
She heard them whisper to her of her rightful place as king. She heard their promises and saw their visions of a world conquered at her feet, and she knew it was empty, knew she was nothing more than a puppet, a plaything. She knew her own helplessness and she despised it. She saw the humans that had provoked her captors and she hated them. She wished them the same pain she had suffered.
Darcy knew all these things and gathered them up. She used her hatred, her anger, her pain, and she burned her captors from her mind, like cauterizing a wound.
Darcy woke up lying on her side on the cold floor. She was disoriented at first, feeling momentarily as if she was in the wrong body, but then she remembered she was not an Asgardian prince, that she was in actuality a human (of sorts), a norn, and very, very tired.
She opened her eyes to find that she was lying inside of Loki's cell, and he was lying on the floor beside her, his pale green eyes focused on her face. She yelped and scrambled backwards until she hit the golden forcefield, which sent an unpleasant shock through her body.
Loki was on his feet in a flash, catching her by her arms and pulling her away from the barrier. He helped her sit down and continued to hold her upright when she seemed inclined to collapse again.
He stared at her in something akin to wonder, as if she was some marvelous secret only he knew. "A norn," he said at length. "A human norn. Now there is something truly rare."
"Leggo of me," Darcy mumbled.
Loki obliged and Darcy slowly slumped to the floor again. She couldn't summon enough energy to care that she was inside a locked cell with a mass murderer, or that Loki had somehow discovered her secret.
"Water," she demanded from the floor. Loki rose to his feet again and went to the pitcher on a small table in the corner. He returned with a silver cup. Darcy took it from him and drained it greedily. She handed it back and closed her eyes.
"Sleep now," she said before losing consciousness.