I have a plot! I have a plot! Sorry for the vast gaps of time between updates but I never seem to have time to write! :) read and review darlings.

They locked him up again.

Darcy had been so excited to tell Odin of her discovery- she imagined praise, a speedy search for a magic recovery to cure Loki of his split personality disorder- but instead she was given the royal silent treatment, her report unheeded as important.

"Frankly", said Queen Frigga, "it's simpler for Loki to remain like this. I love my son, but he is too dangerous when normal, and this way we can leave him be until he returns to his more docile self. It worked the first time."
At that Darcy felt disgust- how could a mother, or any family for that matter, allow a child to go insane for the convenience's sake?

Still, she couldn't criticize Jane's ma-in-law.

It didn't stop her from complaining to Thor mightily, calling him a coward in the hopes of provoking him into action.

Sadly, Thor had become calmly wise over the years, and she had no effect on his decision to follow his father's wishes.

Jane was ballooning and Darcy couldn't bear to explain the true nature of the situation to her, worried for the little life growing inside her best friend. She had grown weak of late, but the royal healers reassured her that Jane's immortal body could sustain the baby-

that didn't really do much for Darcy, though. She'd seen Breaking Dawn, and despite the shittiness of the franchise she couldn't deny the truth of the film- giving birth to a half god/vampire was hell on the mother.

After a week of attempting to gain access to Loki again, Darcy was forced to give up. She was taken with a case of the flu, which was bizarre considering her being in Asgard at the time. Thor forced her to stay in bed, citing her health to contain her to her room. She knew he feared her finding his brother, but really, there were parts of the palace a girl in a wheelchair couldn't reach no matter how hard she tried.

The flu knocked her out for two weeks, and Darcy resurfaced five pounds lighter from all the vomiting. Rejuvenated and excited, she immediately visited Jane in her chamber, but was shocked to find her best friend in bed, feet swollen to little puffs and stomach straining in the already loosened robe.

"Darce... You're better! I'm so glad, I couldn't visit because of the baby of course, even though I technically can't get sick."

Darcy shook her head at how quiet Jane's voice was, and quipped, "Magic apples have that effect- by the way, shouldn't those prevent you from looking like you're dying?"

Jane's already white face grew even paler, and Darcy felt guilty for troubling her friend.

"Forget that, it was bitchy. Jane, are you really okay?"

"I'm alright. Carrying a god-baby takes all my strength, it seems. The healer says I'm going to be okay, but I'm still a bit of a high risk pregnancy."

Darcy wheeled herself next to Jane's bed, clasping her hand and sighing.

"I can't believe you're spewing out a little Thor or Jane from between your legs... Just yesterday you and I were eating Poptarts and crying over the Bachelor. Now look at us- you're about to be a mom and I'm a psychologist who's sort of diagnosed the god of lies with MPD. Only difference is that people believe that you're preggers..."

Jane groaned and rolled her eyes. "Darcy, the chances of anyone listening to you is low as it is- they won't even accept me fully! Hon, you've done a good thing and I'm sure Loki will be okay soon enough."

Just as Darcy was about to utter "Bullshit", an attendant entered the room with a summons for Darcy to go to Heimdall at the Bifrost.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you resemble Nick Fury?"

The guard didn't bat an eyelash, and yet a glimmer of humor sparkled in his eye.
"Madame Lewis, there is a message from SHIELD. You are to return immediately to Earth for an evaluation."

"What?!" Darcy's surprise was evident based on the spit that landed on Heimdall's sword, which he delicately wiped off.

"I do not know the reasons for their demands Madame Lewis, I merely relay them to you."

She smiled uncertainly, curious as to why they wanted her back then. Bidding the guard farewell, she turned her chair to leave, interrupted by Heimdall's surprisingly quiet voice. "I would advise you to be careful Darcy. SHIELD may not like what you have to share, and you may suffer for your knowledge. Do not allow them to consume you any more than they already have."

His enigmatic warning floated in Darcy's head as she packed and made for her journey back to Earth.

He was dreaming again. It began as always, in a swirl of white and blue and grey, consuming his very being in a spiral of anger and disappointment. Just as he felt himself slowly freezing to death, the scene would change to a golden palace of laughter and secrets. He was a shadow, lurking on the fringes of the fray and he was all alone. As the laughter grew louder, he grew even darker, until one day the black overcame the rest, leaving him... different. From there the colors morphed into a blur of hasty betrayal and nausea, and then dizzyingly pleasurable power tainted only by the fear of falling, falling, falling off a skyscraper-

He awoke with a start, skin icy blue and shimmering with sheen of frost. Slowly, he counted to ten, relieved to find his skin fading back to its usual pink. Despite being awake he could still see behind his eyelids the flash of chestnut hair rippling in the air as she plummeted to her death- but she didn't die. He raked his hands through his hair, and lay back down.

Despite his best efforts, he couldn't stop visualizing a broken, beaten figure crumpled into the concrete, a halo of shining hair encircling her Virgin Mary face.

Darcy hated Nick Fury's office. It was the classic "I'm a man in power" style- chrome inlaid designs and chairs which couldn't possibly be meant to support a human ass. She also hated listening to his lectures, however infrequent they tended to be.

This time it had to do with taking care of herself.

Ironically, Darcy had expected to be reprimanded for her midnight rendez-vouz with Loki rather than her wellbeing, and that was pleasant as it was.

She didn't mind being back on Earth but she hated not being with Jane when she had clearly needed support- Fury was very aware of her displeasure, and promised to send the best doctors up to Asgard as means to calm Darcy.

Tense meeting concluded, Darcy had rolled out of the office towards the ridiculous elevator from hell which always seemed out of order when she needed it. She strained to reach the top floor button (of course her office was on the 56th floor) but couldn't. She was close to resorting to throwing her shoe at the button when the doors opened again for a man.

Darcy dropped her shoe when she noticed the glowing blue light of Tony Stark's chest, and immediately apologized.

"I'm so sorry, this isn't as weird as it seems!"

The man barely glanced at her, smirking at something on his phone as he mumbled "56th floor."

Darcy winced, cheeks flushing red as she whispered, "I can't."

Stark hardly heard her, only repeating himself after a few moments of Darcy's stomach clenching with nausea.

"I said, 56th floor." He was clearly annoyed at the inconvenience, and the old Darcy reared her head, pushing down all self-pity in lieu of sarcasm.

Flipping her hair, she made a show of desperately reaching for the top button, even going as far as to attempting to stand from her seat. It was then that Tony put his phone up and quickly pressed the button, uttering a "sorry" before staring at the elevator door before him.

"It's okay. I'm not offended, but your "I'm too rich for this plebian" attitude pissed me off."

She stuck out her hand, introducing herself. "I'm Darcy Lewis, ex-helper gnome for SHIELD research and more."

His grip was firm as he replied, "Tony Stark, otherwise known as Iron Man. I'm kind of a big deal- maybe you've heard of me?"

"You know, you do like kind of familiar…What're you doing going up to the nosebleed section of SHIELD anyways? The penthouse doesn't exist in this joint."

"I'm getting a forced psych eval. I've avoided them for months, and I've been threatened to get kicked out of this club if I don't get my head checked."

Darcy felt herself pitying the poor schmuck left to pick that man's pink matter- clearly, he was a narcissistic ego maniac with a killer fashion sense who happened to fight crime.

She laughed as he strode out of the elevator, wheeling herself out less than gracefully.

Darcy sat before her laptop, opening her email for the first time in months. She was sorting through the junk when a knock sounded on her door. Great. Interruptions already.

"Come in!" was her cheery reply, anticipating a co-worker who may have actually missed her.

The door opened and who should stand there but her elevator companion-

Tony Stark.

"Oh! Hello Mr. Stark!"

The disbelief on Iron Man's face was hilarious to behold, yet somehow insulting. Darcy knew he was shocked that she could be the psych expert SHIELD had referred him to, and though she knew she was qualified, she couldn't deny that it stung to still be considered the coffee girl of so long ago.

Tony sat in front of Darcy's desk, crossing his legs and laughing.

"Son of a bitch. How do you do helper gnome?"

"I'm still good. I know that we've kind of ruined the whole doctor patient relationship type of thing in a matter of minutes in the elevator but I'd still like to help you out, if I can. I am a trained qualified professional, Mr. Stark, and I can listen."

Clearly Tony was a YOLO kind of guy, and so he leaned forward and put his head in his hands.

"I keep having these nightmares…"

….

When Darcy found out Jane was in labor two weeks later, she begged to return to Asgard. Fury had probably never seen a paraplegic person beg on their knees before, but Darcy definitely gave it her all. SHIELD officials were reluctant to give her the clearance to leave Earth once again but she was willing to do anything. Darcy even put in a word with Tony who had opened up to her a bit since their first couple of sessions. Not even his word, however, could sway Fury- he didn't want intergalactic travel to become a regular thing for Darcy Lewis.

After that, things began to fall into pieces, once again. As if life hadn't sucked as it was, Darcy missed the birth of her best friend's little girl, Lucy Jane. She was thirsty for any news of Jane, and secretly, Loki, but she received neither.

Months passed again, but Darcy was better this time. She was lonely but not alone- tentatively she made friendships with coworkers. Sometimes they'd get drinks, sometimes they'd grab lunch. Occasionally the man of Iron would drop by and talk for a few hours, always bringing Darcy some kind of dangerous new toy for her wheelchair. (She installed the taser into the arms of the chair but demanded a safety immediately).

At night it was tougher though. Her body yearned for contact of any kind, and she missed smelling a man's cologne on her pillows more than she cared to admit. Darcy coped, but that in itself was a burden.

One night in December, when the snow was falling fast and her fireplace was flickering slowly, Darcy was already in bed, dreaming. She was whole again, running down the streets of New York and dancing, singing, with her hair flying around her and her mind free of burden.

Suddenly, she felt something change in her subconscious- a darker presence, not evil but certainly not good.

Darcy woke up, sweaty and pale and positive that someone was watching her, and pretty sure of who it was, she called out in a surprisingly steady voice,

"Loki?"

She supposed that it was good she didn't faint when the tall dark figure stepped away from the shadows towards her bed.

It was unfortunate though, that she had chosen to sleep braless and topless that night.

How was she meant to anticipate visitors when she'd had none for three years?